A Bunch of Maps and Mishaps
by Comix and Co
Summary: After realizing how spoiled and bratty his son really is, Lucius Malfoy sends him aboard a ship to gain some experience. However, the last thing he expected (that he really should have) was for Draco to get kidnapped by pirates and dragged into an all-out pirate war to defeat the Dark Pirate Lord Voldemort. Rated T for swearing. Pirate!Au
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, I thought I'd put up a list at the beginning of the fanfiction outlining anything that might put people off reading this, for whatever reason (I could put all this in the tags if I was on AO3, but I don't like how it shows viewings and stuff it isn't as clear as on here). The list will (hopefully if I remember) be updated every so often to be as accurate as possible, so that I don't get hate from angry reviewers who got to, like, Chapter 50 or something only to find out that their notp was a main pairing or something.**

**So, this fanfiction includes:**

**\- black!Hermione  
\- black!Harry  
-minor OCs  
-human!Basilisk  
-minor character deaths  
-mentions of blood and injuries  
-human!Nagini**

**I know it's a little short right now, but hey, the story's only just started, there'll be plenty of time for me to indulge in all of your worst horrors (or favourite things) later.**

**Happy readings!**

**~Comix**

Chapter One: In which Draco is a little shit, and Lucius makes a decision

As the son of a successful sea merchant, Draco Malfoy had been able to have many luxuries throughout his childhood. His mother had barely left his side. His father bought his affections. The world was his oyster.

This is what he knew when he woke up in his silk sheets and stretched, yawning widely. It was what he thought as he washed his face in the basin and a servant opened his curtains, letting the warmth sunlight warm him. It was what he believed as he sat down for breakfast with his mother and father. It was what he told himself as he made polite conversation with them. It was what he told his best friend Blaise around an hour later, as they looked across the docks, sat on some rocks not too far from his manor house.

"The world is my oyster, Blaise," he grinned.

"Sure." Blaise rolled his eyes. His entire family was currently in employment to the Malfoy family - his mother as one of Narcissa Malfoy's maids, his sister as an assistant cook, his father on one of the Malfoy's many trading ships, and himself being Draco's... butler. That was his official title, anyway, however it wasn't as such that he looked after Draco, but just kept him company, took the fall for him, and made sure he didn't die.

"Amused, Blaise?" Draco said, smirking. "It's true. This island, everybody follows my fathers orders and one day it will be mine. All of it." He pulled his shirt off and lay back, basking in the Caribbean sun.

"You shouldn't be doing that. You burn too easily." Blaise grumbled, but did nothing to stop him. "And how can you be so sure? Theo Nott's father is governor, not Lucius."

"Ah, but for how much longer?" Draco laughed. "My father is bringing in way too much money for the crown; they'll have to reward him somehow."

"And how will you run the business when it's yours? You know fuck all about the sea."

"A bunch of maps and maths, Blaise. That's all it'll be." He sat up and looked past the docks to the sea. "Trust me, Zabini. My future is spread out before me like the ocean, and..." his roaming eyes caught sight of Pansy Parkinson, skinny-dipping with her friends. "I like what I see."

* * *

Lucius Malfoy's son was a spoiled brat.

In fact, one could even say he'd been a spoiled brat all his life. As his son, Draco had had many opportunities that others couldn't afford. His mother had coddled him, and Lucius could admit, reluctantly, that he'd given the boy too much. And he'd turned into a little shit.

This was what he knew when his wife awoke him with a kiss. It was what he thought as he brushed back his long, almost-white hair and smiled slyly into the mirror. It was what he'd rather not think about as Draco sauntered into the dining room. It is what he admitted to himself as his son prattled on about things that hardly mattered. It was what he admitted to his wife soon after, as they took tea in the library.

"Our son's a little shit, Narcissa," he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Lucius!" His wife gasped, not appreciating her husband's vocabulary.

"It's true. He's a spoiled brat. We've been giving him too much, and expecting too little in return." He stretched back on his seat.

"He's just a boy, Lucius."

"Dammit Narcissa!" Lucius slammed his hands on the coffee table. "That 'boy' is well over the age I was when I inherited the company from my father. I have enough to worry about, what with those blasted pirates..."

"I thought you made a deal with them? To protect your ships?" Narcissa was genuinely concerned. Despite the fact that her sisters and their families sailed the seas, Narcissa had never been fond of the ocean - it made her seasick - so she didn't fully understand the finer points of piracy.

"With Voldemort - yes. But Dumbeldore's fleet? For as long as I am in league with the Dark Pirate Lord, I am a target."

"Then stop allying yourself with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

"I can't... Dumbledore attacks fleets, but... Voldemort does much worse... But, that isn't our topic of concern, currently. We were talking of our son." Lucius stood up, and walked over to one bookcases that lined the walls. "I don't plan to die for a long time yet, Narcissa. But that doesn't mean I won't. And if I do, I need to know the business will be left in good hands."

"You've been coaching Draco in business since he could talk."

"And if I dealt with business on land, I would leave it at that. But, I do not. The boy needs to understand the waves." Lucius sighed. "I travelled on the HMS Slytherin myself for several years, it is how I keep the peace with my captains. I understand them, and they respect me."

"They shall respect our son, as well."

"Draco?" Lucius scoffed. "Not even the Zabini's respect him! They respect the cat more than him! The only reason the son keeps him company is because I pay him extra at the end of the week!"

Narcissa looked horrified at the information. "No..."

"I'm sorry, Narcissa. But... I believe it is best for the boy to spend a couple of months on one of my ships, the Endeavor."

"But, Lucius... What about the pirates?" Narcissa asked, looking at him desperately.

"The ship's current route is through waters which are rarely attacked. Besides, I would trust Captain Yaxley with my life." He pulled a book from the shelf and stroked the leather cover. "It's what's best for Draco."

"If you say so." Nacissa conceeded, also standing. "We'll tell him tonight, I suppose? During dinner?"

* * *

Draco didn't take the news well.

He screamed, he yelled and he hurled abuse at his parents. He held his breath until he turned blue. He pulled the books from the wall and punched the wall. He poured the soup from it's bowl and smashed the china on his chair. He stormed out into the garden and ruined his mother's flowers. He came back in and yelled some more. But it was the spitting, however, that was the last straw for Lucius's temper.

Lucius grabbed him by his collar and pushed him against the wall. "Listen here, boy. You are a man of class, and you are behaving like a heathen. You are boarding that ship, and no matter how many tantrums you throw, this will not change!"

"You never cared about me, you elvish sodomite!" Draco howled. "You never loved me! You were just waiting to get rid of me, you big-nosed son of a bitch!"

Lucius slapped Draco's cheek. "You dare to talk to me that way? My riches, my hard work, are the reasons you live the way you do!"

"That doesn't matter! I didn't ask to be born into this selfish, uncaring family! You didn't ask if I wanted this! So you don't get to choose my fate!"

"So you choose not to inherit the Malfoy fortune? That can easily be arranged!" Lucius thundered back.

Draco looked shocked, and lowered his gaze to the floor, spitting out, "I never said that, did I?"

Lucius let go of his shirt. "Then you will be going on that ship, and we will say no more on this topic."

**AN: Hi guys! It's been a while, huh? Like, at least a year... maybe more... and I've spent that year planning this fic! It's working title is A Bunch of Maps and Mishaps, but I might change it later if something better comes up. I might take a little long to update since I'm still planning some parts (I want to include side-plots so the story isn't so plot heavy but I'm struggling to come up with piratey ideas) but I aim to be semi-regular with updates! Finally, there are no endgame pairings just yet, though I do have vague ideas, so bear with me and if I decide I'll update the thingy at the top with the pairing (though I will warn you now there is a 67% chance it will end up as Dramione since I enjoy writing Dramione a lot)!**

**As always, please review!  
**

**~Comix**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: In which Draco learns money can't fix everything and stuggles to get used to ship life

Draco's first day on the Endeavor was less than enjoyable. The constant rocking of the boat made him feel sick to his stomach. He wasn't given any time to adjust, however, and was thrown right into work. His father hadn't been kind, he'd told Captain Yaxley that he could put Draco to any work he wanted.

Before they had left the harbor the Captain had given Draco some advice. "At the moment the crew only know you as the boss's son." He fixed Draco with a hard stare. "That isn't a good place to be. You're some pompous, arrogant dick to them. Most of them hate dicks. Some of them enjoy it - I'm not going to judge, but the fact remains that they aren't going to like you, and you'll have to prove your worth. I'm making it so that the more popular you are, the higher up you'll be!" He chuckled. "Not that you'll be Quartermaster, of course... If you get that popular, you can help me account and take inventory."

Now, Draco had been sure it wouldn't be too bad. He'd splash his money about and he'd be in the Captain's Quarters in no time.

But it wasn't like that at all. The crew were already getting enough money, and weren't thinking about making extra on the side. The fact that Draco thought he could take the easy way out only made them dislike him more.

His first official day at sea began at half five in the morning, by which time the island Draco called home was already just a speck on the horizon behind them. The Sun wasn't even out when Draco was pulled from his hammock, where he had been peacefully dreaming. He hit the rocking floor of the ship with a thump, and he groaned. He opened his eyes and glared at the sailor who had woken him.

Through the dim lights, Draco could see that he was large, and muscly, with small eyes and a large nose. His sleeves were ripped, and he wasn't wearing any shoes.

"What was that about?" Draco seethed, glaring up at the man.

"Been trying to wake you up for thirty minutes." The man said. "The others all left. Get up now, or you'll miss breakfast."

"Oh." Draco attempted to pick himself off the floor, but struggled to gain his balance. His companion gave him an audible sigh and yanked Draco up by his collar as if he weighed nothing at all. Draco rubbed his neck where the man's hand had been, but thanked him. "Ah, let me just get changed into some new clothes..."

The sailor gave a short laugh. "Those're yer only pair."

"What?!"

* * *

Draco wasn't impressed by breakfast, either. He was used to eggs and bacon, sausages and bread, not...

"What is this, anyway?" Draco scoffed, tapping the sloshing bowl of grey muck.

"Breakfast." Replied a sailor gruffly. The mans thick hands were wrapped around his bowl like a wolf holding onto it's kill.

"Yes, but what is it? Some kind of soup?" His nose wrinkled. It smelt of dishwater.

"'S porridge." Another grunted. "An' the best meal yer'll be getting' fer a while, so eat up."

Draco looked down at his 'food', an uninspiring grey, watery dish of water with worrying lumps in it.

"Lunch an' tea'll be better!" An over-the-top Cockney accent noted helpfully, out of nowhere. Draco looked at the small boy in front of him, who had been silent until now. He was tiny - and looked about ten, or eleven, not old enough to be on a ship in Draco's personal opinion. "And all the best food goes to the people at the top."

Draco sneered. "Who are you?"

"I'm Colin Creevey. I've only been on this ship a month, but..."

"I don't need your advice, Creevey." Draco cut in, standing up and leaving, deciding that it wasn't worth eating the food and that he could wait until later. The young boy eyed Draco's food eagerly, and reached for it, but another sailor snatched it up and glared at the small boy.

"Don't even think of it."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Draco was beginning to regret not having his breakfast, however disgusting it looked. The Sun was up now, and the heat was blistering. Fresh water was rare here, so most of the crew drank rum. Lucius had taken Yaxley aside before they had left, however, and instructed him that Draco was only allowed to drink water, and had supplied Yaxley with more water than usual so that there would be enough for Draco to drink. Lucius had said that Draco hadn't gotten drunk before, and he wasn't too keen on letting him start. Therefore, Draco had been given a flask of water just after sun-up, and told it would be refilled at the end of the day.

It was already half empty, and it wasn't even mid-day.

To start him off, the Quartermaster had given Draco a 'small, easy' job - to swab the deck with saltwater to keep it swelled and tight. Though Draco had been slightly thankful for not having to do any hard labor, he was still angry about having to do any labor at all. And the work was still strenuous.

From his position, he could see what was going on around the ship. Some of the sailors were tying and untying ropes, and some of them sat around doing nothing for a while, before going down below deck. The small brat Draco had met earlier, Creepy, Draco thought his name might have been, was particularly interesting to watch. He darted back and forth across the ship, nipping below deck before hopping back out and sprinting to the other end. He hardly seemed to stop moving, aside from when a member of the crew would grab him and say something to him - give him an order, perhaps? The boy would answer with a sloppy grin, nod and dart off. Sometimes he would dart around the ship calling some random persons name, finding them and parroting words to them before disappearing below deck again. Sometimes he would stop by a sailor and watch what they were doing with rapt attention, and the sailor would show him how he was doing it. Draco despised how chirpy and eager the boy was about his job.

At around half ten, as Draco was wiping the sweat from his brow, Creepy skidded to a halt next to him. "D'you want some help with that mate?"

Draco sneered at him. "No, I don't need some small kids help."

"It's no bother, honestly!" The boy ignored him, grabbing another mop. "I don't have anything to do right now, Captain Yaxley told me to help in the kitchen, but that can wait until midday they won't be really needing my help for a while, so I'm free to help you!"

"I don't want help."

"It'll be quicker if we work together!"

Draco groaned and stopped mopping, swinging round to face the boy. "Look, I don't really want to be here. All I have to do is do my fair share of work and then I'm home free right? My father will hear how much work I've done and think it's alright for me to go back, so I'm just going to do that. If you help me, he'll just think I'm shirking off."

The boy looked at him. "You're on here to learn how to be a leader, right?"

"Yes."

"Well how can you lead people if you aren't willing to work with them?" Draco scowled.

"Leadership isn't about working with people, it's about telling them what to do."

"I think you're wrong."

"I don't give a fuck what you think." Draco momentarily wondered whether he should be swearing in front of the kid, he was so small he was probably 8 years old or something, but he figured he'd heard worse during his time at sea. He took another swig of his water and returned to work.

"That's fair enough, but a good leader always listens to the opinions of their crew!" The boy chirped. "If you're sure you'll be okay, then I trust your judgement." He sounded a little sad, but Draco firmly told himself not to be empathetic. "I'll go pester Sebastian and see if he'll show me how to steer the ship!"

The kid dropped the mop and scampered off, leaving Draco to swab the deck alone, with only one mouthful of water left to keep him hydrated until lunch or dinner, whenever they would be.

* * *

Lunch was given to him soon after - if you could call it lunch. It was really just a hard cracker-like thing. Draco didn't like it, it tasted dry and salty and wasn't helping his slow de-hydration, but he was so starving he had to eat it.

It began to get slightly colder as the day went on, and the sun set just after seven o'clock. The kid - Draco had forgotten his name completely by now - had dashed below deck soon after he'd eaten lunch, and Draco didn't see him again until around eight o'clock, when he popped his head up from the stairs and told everybody dinner was ready.

Draco hadn't finished his job, but he was so hungry and thirsty that he dropped his mop and went to follow everybody down to eat. However, his shoulder was grabbed by the strong grip of the Quatermaster.

"Where d'you think yer goin'?" He asked, glaring at Draco. Draco mustered up a glare back.

"I'm going to have dinner. I'm starving." He replied. The sailor huffed.

"Not until you finish your job, you don't. I gave you the task of swabbing the deck. Does this deck look swabbed?"

"Most of it does."

"And if the parts that aren't get splashed by a wave, yer'll be the one apologisin' to the crew that gets wet? Yer'll pay fer any damage that happens to the val-u-bels?" The large man growled. Draco wondered if he and that cabin boy where the only ones on the ship that didn't lift whales in their spare time. "Finish swabbing the deck, and then y'can eat."

The Quatermaster shoved Draco backwards gruffly and lumbered down to have dinner. Draco muttered a string of profanity as he roughly grabbed the mop and continued his job. He cursed his father for sending him off on the ship, his mother for not standing up for him, Blaise for not coming with him, Captain Yaxley for making him do this type of work, the Quatermaster for giving him this work, and that stupid kid that had left him to do it on his own. By this point, Draco had completely forgotten that he had been the one to turn the small, helpful boy away. The stars that were beginning to twinkle in the sky did nothing to make Draco feel at peace.

* * *

Half an hour later he was done, more or less. There wasn't anybody around to tell him whether he'd done a good job or not, so he decided that he was done and went below deck. The room where they'd eaten breakfast was empty, and a plate with a pile of what looked like wet straw sat on a table alone, with only a blunt fork of... questionable hygiene to keep it company. Draco was nervous about eating it, but too hungry to complain about it's appearance. Besides, there was nobody there to complain to. The food was sour and Draco winced as he forced it down his throat. That boy had told him the food would be better at dinner, but he had lied. Either that or they'd given him this shit instead of actual food.

Either way, Draco was more tired than he had been in his life. He dragged himself back to the bunk where he'd gotten up this morning. The room stunk and everybody was snoring; Draco was reminded of a pack of sleeping wolves.

As he got into bed, he heard a tiny voice call out to him. "Draco, is that you? Sorry about you having to eat later, I did offer to help... D'you want my help tomorrow? I tried to keep some of the meat for you, but Jugson wouldn't let me. Are you okay?"

Draco was too tired to make a remark about how he was not okay, he was not okay at all, and just flopped over onto the hammock... which tipped, and he fell out with a thump. Draco groaned.

"Are you okay, Draco?"

"Fuck off kid."

**AN:**** Hi! Second chapter here! Half of this was written already (I wrote the first chapter last year, but left off putting it up until I had a plan), so that's why it's up so quickly. From here on out, updates may be slower because I'll have to write out the entire thing. There'll probably be only one more chapter until the plot really takes off, since I didn't include everything I wanted to in this one (Draco was being too much of a little bitch over his life to co-operate with the friend-making), but then it'll be enter Hermione! and everything will take off from there.**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: In which Draco talks to Yaxley

The next couple of days aboard the Endeavor were only slightly better than Draco's first. He was shown how to do other things around the ship, like tying simple knots, but nobody really trusted him to tie anything down. Draco had learnt his lesson, and ate each meal that was given to him, however his stomach was so unused to the horrible food that he normally threw up over the side of the ship by the afternoon. Some of the sailors found his weak stomach amusing, but others complained amongst themselves about how Draco was only wasting food they could have eaten.

The weather had been, for the most part, hot and sunny, without a cloud in the sky - a sight many of the sailors were thankful for. Draco was too, even though his skin was blistered and red; he didn't think he would be able to handle a storm this early in his journey.

The cabin boy, whose name still escaped Draco, seemed to be staying away from him since Draco had told him to fuck off. Or maybe he was just too busy to come and talk to him. Draco didn't care either way, he wasn't on the ship to make friends.

One too-hot afternoon, as Draco sat on the roasting boards of the deck practicing some knots (a task the Quatermaster had said would 'keep him out of trouble for a while'), the small cabin boy appeared in front of him again. "Hello Draco!"

Draco looked up at the boy, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to come by and say hi!" The boy laughed. "There doesn't have to be a reason for everythin', y'know!" He waited for Draco to say something, and when he didn't, he began to speak again. "Me and some of the others don't have anything to do right now, so we were thinking of playing some Liars Dice t' pass the time. Would you like to join us?"

"I'm kind of busy at the moment." Draco dismissed, holding his rope slightly higher to make sure the boy could see it.

"It's not like the Quatermaster will notice if you don't do it!" The boy rolled his eyes. "It's not an important job; heckers, it's not even a job, it's just a task to pass the time! I can show you how to tie a specific knot if he wants you to show him something before tea..."

"No thanks." Draco looked back down at his knot, avoiding the kid's eyes. Why couldn't he understand Draco just wanted to be left alone?

"Oh... okay..." Draco tried to ignore how sad the boy sounded. "If you're sure you don't want to play, I can't force you. We'll be just over there if you change your mind though." There was the sound of footfalls and Draco assumed he'd finally left.

Around half an hour later, Draco's curiosity got the better of him. He looked up, nonchalantly, as if he was checking whether it was still sunny, to see where the cabin boy and some of the sailors were. They sat in the small parts of shade the ship still had, on the opposite side of the deck. They were crouched round, in a circle formation. Each person had a wooden cup that they were holding, shaking, checking, covering. Then one person would say something, and they would each say something in return. Eventually, somebody would say something else and they'd all look excited and uncover their cups. After that, the person who said something would either cheer and gather up a pile of silver coins set in the middle, or everybody else would laugh, and the money would be gathered by the person who had spoken before him.

Oh. They were gambling. Draco hadn't thought that the cabin boy was that kind of kid. But then again, what did he know? There was no point playing either way, Draco decided, since he didn't have any money with him. Unlike the crew, Draco wasn't getting paid, since the money that would be given to him was his families anyway, and he didn't really need money. Yaxley had told him that he could have a little 'pocket money' when they docked in a harbour if he wanted, but they hadn't docked yet. Draco wasn't sure what he'd spend the money on anyway.

At that moment, the boy looked up and grinned at him, beckoning him over. Draco shook his head frantically, glaring at him for good measure. The boy rolled his eyes, said something to the men, and... lost most of his money. Draco realized that he couldn't ask the boy how to play either, since he seemed so damn bad at it.

Shortly after that moment, the Quatermaster came by, and told Draco to go below deck and help make dinner. Draco nodded, glad to get out of the sun.

The person who cooked normally depended on what day it was. On that day (Draco had lost track of the days of the week), it was a man named Macnair, who's greasy almost-black hair was tied back into a small ponytail. He looked up quickly when Draco entered the storage, his lip curling.

"The Quatermaster sent me down to help you make the food." Draco said, his voice raising a couple of octaves.

Macnair gave a short nod, and returned to what he was doing.

"Um... what should I do?"

"Ain't much to be done." Macnair muttered. "Meat's almost rotten. Was on it's way out when they gave it to us. I can tell these things."

"So..."

"We'll be havin' the meat today. An' a bit of the cheese. Maybe a biscuit... Boy!" Macnair's voice rose sharply, and Draco jumped.

"Wha-yes?"

"Go to the Captain and ask him when we'll be at port next. We'll restock there."

"Okay." Draco nodded and headed back up the stairs. He crossed the deck to where the Captain would be calculating profits and pouring over maps of the ocean, just behind a slightly ajar door...

It would be the first time he spoke to Captain Yaxley since they'd boarded the ship.

Draco knocked on the door.

"Come in," the Captain's voice sounded no different from when they had boarded the ship. Draco wondered why he'd expected it to be. He opened the door fully and slipped in, closing it behind him. Yaxley looked up from his desk, where he was, indeed, looking over a map of the ocean. A couple of pieces of parchment were unrolled beside it, blotted with ink jottings Draco didn't fully understand. "Ah, Draco!" The Captain grinned, and moved the papers so Draco couldn't see them, before walking over to Draco to clap him on the back. His hand hit a particularly sunburnt patch of skin between Draco's shoulder blades, and Draco held back a wince.

"Hello, sir." He replied, smiling warily.

"It's good to see you. You know, I meant to call you in before, but I completely forgot! Come on, come sit down, I bet you're exhausted," Yaxley gestured to one of the few seats in the cabin, a chair just like the others on the ship, except it had a small, probably fluffy, pillow on it's cover. Draco almost sighed as he sat down, glad for the comfort, across from the (more luxurious) seat the Captain sat on. "I was right then, I see! So," the Captain looked at Draco with a mixture of seriousness and amusement in his eyes, "how's life for you on my beauty, huh?"

A million complaints sprung to Draco's mind at once, however he couldn't bring himself to say them now that the Captain was sitting in front of him so informally. "I-it's... okay. It's good, yeah, it's fine."

Captain Yaxley laughed loudly. "So, you're settling in all right then. Or should I say, all red." He laughed again. "Look at your skin, kid! I can tell you don't spend often in the sun!" Draco shook his head, looking down. "Ay, don't worry about it though. Your skin'll get used to the sun soon enough, and in the meantime..." Yaxley stood, walking over to a chest. He bent down, rummaging through it. "Ah, I know it's in here somewhere... Aha!"

He stood up, waving something victoriously in his firm grip. He turned to Draco and handed the item to him. It was a glass jar of something semi-transparent, that had a blue tinge to it. Draco carefully tried to open the jar... and failed, since the lid was stuck on too tight for him. Draco's eyes narrowed as the Captain laughed again, taking it back to open it, so Draco could look inside.

Once the jar was open, a horrible scent filled the room. It smelt like the polish on the candlesticks in the Malfoy's dining room, crossed with whatever 'food' the crew had been eating for the past few weeks, as well as several other less than pleasant things. Apprehensively, Draco placed a finger inside the jar. The liquid was thick, and sticky, and Draco quickly pulled his finger out, wiping it on his trousers. A purple stain formed where he wiped the substance off, and Draco felt like throwing up. "Um... thank you?"

"Ay, don't thank me yet." Yaxley sat back down, spreading his legs and stretching his arms as he leant backwards. "That there is the best skin protector I've yet to find. Put that on in the morning, and you'll have none of this reddy, blistery, skin curling stuff. And soon, yer skin'll be resistant to the sun just like the rest o'ours." Draco opened his mouth to say a half-hearted thank you again, but the Captain suddenly sat straight, like he'd just thought of something. "Now, wait a minute, was there a reason you came to see me, boy? Y'know, I'm very busy."

"Yes!" Draco said, glad to get off the topic of his skin. While the Captain was distracted, he placed the jar down and kicked it under the seat. "The cook guy, uhhhhh Mac and Hair..."

"Macnair!" Yaxley laughed again.

"Uh, yeah, Macnair... he asked me to come ask you when we're docking again, because we're running out of food that's still edible."

"Hm." Yaxley got up and walked over to the map, looking it over. "Hey, for the son of a sea merchant, you ain't too good at talking t'people with confidence, are yah?"

Draco felt a tidal wave of irritation wash over him. "Hey! I'm just trying to be polite, you know! In fact, I don't know why I'm even bothering, since you're right: My father is a sea merchant, he's the boss of you, which means that I am above you, so I'm only being polite because of how I was brought up and how I was taught that manners are everything, something your crew seems to lack..."

Yaxley cut him off with another laugh. "Ah, there's the pompous rich boy attitude Bruce was telling me about. Don't go bad mouthing my crew; they may not be the most eloquent of bastards, but they're a family. You could be a part of it as well, y'know..."

"I don't want to be." Draco said stiffly, crossing his arms. Yaxley laughed again; a sound Draco was beginning to tire of.

"Ay, y'do what you want." Yaxley pointed at a blot of green ink as he muttered to himself. "We could go there, I s'ppose... If Bellatrix or one of the others ain't taken all of it yet... God knows they never replace anythin' they take... It's worth checking out though." He grinned at Draco. "Okay, tell Macnair that we'll be stoppin' off at Twelve Stone Bay in a day or two, an' if there's any food there 'e can take it all."

"Okay, sir, Twelve Stone Bay, got it." Draco stood to leave, half sad to leave the cushion behind. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Um... Yaxley?"

"What is it, kid?" Yaxley was picking up the parchments he'd hidden earlier.

"Well, it's just that..." Draco couldn't believe he was saying this. "I saw some of the crew playing a game earlier, and I'd like to... play with them? I guess? But, uh... I kind of would need money to play, I think, so..."

"They're gambling, are they? Lucius wouldn't like that..." Yaxley snorted. "Then again, Lucius won this very ship in a lucky hand of poker, so he can't say anything about it!" Yaxley shoved his hand into a coat pocket and threw a leather pouch at Draco. "There y'go, kid, knock yourself out. Except don't, I'd get in trouble with your dad... And don't gamble it all off at once, you'll risk the chance of losing it all, and I ain't giving you any more." Yaxley laughed. "Go make your fortune!"

**AN:**** Hola peoples~! Sorry for the wait of, like... oh, almost a month, shoot... I honestly meant to update, and I was like 3/4 through this chapter, and then one of my friends was like 'hey what have you revised for the exam' and I realised how close we actually were to my AS Levels, and I panicked. And completely ditched you for my exams. Sorryyyyyy! But I'm back now, and I'm pretty much free until September if I have my way, so expect a lot more updates where this came from! **

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: In which Draco gains a Friend, and Looses them within the space of a day

After telling Macnair that they would soon be stopping at Twelve Stone Bay, Draco escaped back into the Sun. He was already regretting taking the initiative to tell Yaxley he wanted to play this game... soon everybody on the ship would probably know, and if Draco hadn't approached the cabin boy by that time he would look like a coward and a fool...

"Hullo Draco!" Draco cursed inside his mind. It was like the kid was the fucking devil. He turned around, plastering a smile onto his face.

"Hi... you." He dragged out the words, yelling at himself for not knowing the kids name. Now he sounded like a shit. I mean, he was a shit, but he had way too much confidence in himself to admit it. Apparently the kid was also ignorant of the fact, as he just laughed. Draco had the feeling that the people on this ship were too happy, everybody was laughing too often.

"Um, a lot of the others had to get to work again because Bruce- he's the Quatermaster, if you didn't know- yelled at them, but me and Jack still don't have anything to do... We wanted to continue our game of Liar's Dice, but it's no fun when there are just two people playing, and I know you didn't want to play the game earlier but I was wondering if you happened to have changed your mind...?" The words jumped out of the kids mouth like there were bees flying around in his stomach.

"Yes." Draco answered, too quickly. "Uh, I mean, sure, whatever, I guess I have a bit of free time until dinner." The boy looked up at Draco, his large child eyes sparkling, and Draco tried to avoid his gaze. His eyes were too big, his smile too toothy, his... entire being too innocent and cute. Draco could feel a horrible feeling in the bottom of his stomach, a feeling he'd felt only once before when he was younger...

_Draco frowned in concentration as he stood on his tip-toes, grasping a wooden brick firmly in his outstretched hand. He was planning to build a tall tower, and then his Princess doll would be stuck in it, and his Pirate doll would rescue her for the reward but would end up falling in love with her anyway... His Auntie 'Meda had sent him the bricks for Christmas, but the dolls had been special gifts from his Daddy. His Mummy had knitted several different outfits for the Princess, and Draco had chosen this dress especially because it was... He stopped abruptly as the doors to his playroom opened, eyes widening in anticipation. It was Daddy! Daddy always had something nice for Draco with him; maybe he'd brought Draco a Wizard to go with his Princess and Pirate! Daddy's lips were pursed in a tight frown, but in his hand swung a brown paper bag. It looked big enough to have a Wizard doll in it... Draco dropped the brick onto the carpet, and shuffled over to his Daddy._

_Lucius Malfoy didn't bother to bend down; he held the bag out to his son, who grabbed the bag eagerly. His tiny, toothy smile faltered for a short second as he opened the bag, but it soon came back, twice as big as before. "Sweeties, Daddy! Thank you!" Lucius ruffled his son's hair briefly as the small brat shoved a chubby hand into the bag and stuffed a sweet into his mouth. The business man's eyes narrowed as he saw the scruffy child sat in the corner of the room. He recognised him; of course he recognised him. Bem Zabini's son. The same Bem Zabini that had just recently 'lost' all of Lucius's cargo somewhere between Cape Coast and the Suez Canal. The same Bem Zabini who criticised Lucius's choice of what he bought and sold as though his opinion mattered in the slightest. His lip curled and he walked over to the boy, who looked up as Lucius approached, and bowed quickly._

_"I bet your father couldn't even afford to buy you a lick of the sweets my son has. If he could, maybe he wouldn't be forcing his children into jobs just to pay for the straw above his head. Then again, if he hadn't caused so many unwanted, worthless accidents he'd be able to live in a tenth of the luxury we do. My family deserves this lifestyle, I have worked hard for everything we have, and you can tell your father that the Malfoy family is twice as pure as his family could ever hope to be. I bet your heart is as pure as the filthy colour of your skin. You're lucky I gave you this job, that Draco needs somebody to keep him company and look out for him. Though I suppose a dog could look after him just as well. Even the most diseased dog would probably be cleaner than you anyway, slave." Lucius's tone became more scathing as he spat each word out. The entire family made him sick. If it hadn't been for Narcissa's insistence that they hire the boy as "Silvy's so stretched as it is, with Bem's wages as low as they are and everything...", Lucius wouldn't have hired the boy at all. Nor his sister. Every word that left Lucius's mouth was doing wonders for his temper, however. Maybe he should visit Zabini's bastard child more often; this experience had been very therapeutic. He turned and left the room, patting Draco on the head before he exited, telling him to 'be a good gentleman' and that he'd see him at dinner._

_Draco was unaware of anything that had been going on around him until the door shut once again, too busy eating his sweets and lamenting the loss of the Wizard doll that would never be his. It wasn't fair! Draco never got anything he wanted! His hand shook around inside the bag, trying to find the last, elusive treat that was hiding in the corner of the bag... Aha! There it was. His fingers enclosed around it and he was about to place it on his tongue when he heard a sound he rarely heard from other people._

_It was the sniff of a runny nose. And a whimper._

_Draco turned to see a young boy crouched in the corner with his arms around his knees. He was crying. Draco vaguely remembered his mother introducing them earlier that week. His name was... Basil or something, and he'd come to play with Draco and keep him company, but Draco realised that he hadn't been doing much of that. Maybe it was Draco's fault. He hadn't exactly approached the boy._

_Before now._

_"Hey... Want a sweet?" Draco crawled over to the boy, holding the sticky treat in his plump fingers and holding it out. The boy looked up and glared at him, though the effect was weakened by the tears pouring down his cheeks. Draco thought he looked like a kicked puppy. Draco had always wanted a puppy, but his Mummy had said that they made too much mess so Draco wasn't allowed to have one. "Hey, I said... d'you want a sweet?"_

_The boy mumbled something inaudible. "Wah?" Draco tilted his head sideways. "I dun know what you said..."_

_"No." The boy pouted his lips and sniffed again._

_"Okay." Draco shrugged and went once again to eat it, but placed it back into the bag at the last minute. He put the bag by the boy's feet, and noticed he wasn't wearing any shoes. Mummy told Draco to always wear shoes, even when he was in the house. Draco wondered why the boy wasn't wearing any shoes. "Hey, why aren't ya wearing shoes?" The boy shrugged, looking away. Draco rocked from side to side for a second. "Wanna play with my dolls?" The boy shook his head._

_"Uh... wanna play with my horsies?" The boy shook his head._

_"Um... wanna read a book?" Shake._

_"Wanna go play outside?" Shake._

_"Wanna build a tower?" Shake._

_"Do you wanna build a snowman?" The boy began to shake his head, then looked up at Draco as if he'd suggested they murder the King of England._

_"We're in the middle of the Caribbean. Where would we get snow?" The boy asked incredulously, his voice thick._

_Draco smiled. "It doesn't have to be a snowman. It could be a snowman made out of sand!"_

_"So... a sandman...?" The boy asked._

_Draco nodded. "Yeah! Mummy says I'm not allowed on the beach, but we could always go and ask her and if you're with me I'm sure she'll say yes... hey, why're you crying?"_

_"Um..." He mumbled something, and Draco nudged him again, practically ordering the boy to speak up because Draco only had little ears. "Your Daddy was sayin' mean things ta me."_

_Draco frowned. Daddy had been saying mean things? Daddies didn't say mean things... though sometimes when Daddy thought Draco wasn't listening he did sometimes say naughty words, so maybe what Basil was saying was right. "Why was Daddy being mean ta ya?"_

_"Mi Madre says it's because he's a race mist." The boy mumbled._

_"Wha's tha'?"_

_"'S when you don't like somebody because their skin isn't white... I think."_

_"Oh." Draco frowned, leaning backwards. "I think my skin is too white. I burn too easily. But Mummy says we can't change our skin colour so I shouldn't keep whining about it. It's also why I'm not allowed on the beach, in case I get burnt, and I'm not allowed outside for too often either. But I think it's okay, because I can always play indoors! And it's cooler indoors as well... Hey." Draco nudged the little boy. "I've forgotten your name."_

_The boy frowned at him. "'S Blaise."_

_"Okay." Draco stood up, and reached his hand out to the boy. "Blaise, would you like to be my friend?" From the floor, Blaise looked up at him, eyes wide and still sparkling with tears. His mouth stretched into a shaky smile, and Draco felt his stomach twist with the excitement of having a friend._

_"'S my job, isn't it?"_

Oh. That was the feeling. He was caring about somebody who wasn't himself again. Ugh. No wonder he felt ill all of a sudden.

"Draco?"

"Hm?" Draco looked over at the kid, who had moved in the couple of seconds Draco had been thinking.

The boy laughed. "Are you coming to play Liar's Dice or not?"

"Uh... yeah! Yeah." Draco hurried to catch up with him as they crossed the deck to where Jack was sitting, a one-eyed, one legged bald man with half of his teeth and an extra finger on his left hand. Draco had asked him a couple of times how he'd come to that appearance, and Jack had answered differently every time.

"Draco's gonna play Liar's Dice with us Jack!" The cabin boy cheered, sitting cross legged on the floor. Draco sat down next to him awkwardly, and Jack looked him up and down with his one green, working eye. The other eye was some kind of marble, or ball, and it spun in his socket like the earth, even when he wasn't moving. It creeped Draco the fuck out, but he knew it was impolite to say anything.

"Um, yeah, but you guys are going to have to teach me how to play. I have, like, no idea." Draco covered his inexperience with an awkward, high pitched laugh.

"Oh, it's easy! I'll show you in no time." The cabin boy giggled. "Here," He handed Draco one of the cups that he'd seen earlier. It was a little greasy, but he tried to ignore it. He peered inside. "Okay, so we each have five, six-sided die, okay?"

"Die?"

"It's the singular of dice." The boy smiled at him. "What we do is we shake the cup, with the dice in them, and then flip it onto the deck like this," as he spoke, the boy followed his own actions. "Then you lift up the lid to see what you have, so for example I have two threes, a two and two ones. Now, every turn you have to say a bid on how many of a certain number are on the table." The cabin boy tilted his head and hummed. "Um... I guess with this hand I'd bid for two twos..."

"How? You only have one two." Draco pointed out.

"Yeah, but I have two ones, see?" The kid pointed at them. "And ones can be any number on a die."

"Oh."

"But I wouldn't have to bid with only what I have, see? Because everybody would have die, and the bid is what's on all of the table, in total. So maybe I should have bidded a little higher..." The boy trailed off, and shook his head. "Anyway, then it would be your turn, because we go around in a circle. You could either bid, or call me a liar. Now, if you bid, you have to bid higher than what the person before you bid. So if I bidded two twos, you could bid... uh..."

"Either bid three or more twos, or two threes or more." Jack piped up. His voice sounded a bit like a dolphin's squeal. "I's gotta be higher than Colins 'ere in number. Two twos adds up to four, so ye can bid anythin above a four in number."

"Yeah! Yeah, what Jack said." The cabin boy said. It seemed as though his name was Colin, not that Draco trusted himself to remember. "Um, or if you think what I bid won't be true- that there will be more, or less, than two twos on the table- then you can say I'm a liar. If you're right, you get all the money, but if you're wrong then I do!"

"What about Jack's money?" Draco asked.

"Either you or me gets it. Once the money's in the middle, it isn't ours anymore! So, you still want to play?" Colin's eyes sparkled mischievously, and Draco found himself nodding. "Yay! Let's get started then!"

For the next hour and a half, Draco, Colin and Jack hardly moved from their seats. Though Draco found it a tad confusing at first, he quickly got into the game, and saw he was getting better and better with each roll of the die. Or at least, he was getting more and more confident with his ability. He tried to make sure to be careful with his money, never betting more than a quarter of his money, but throughout the afternoon his bag of coins grew heavier. Sometimes Draco won, sometimes Jack won. Once, Colin won, though Draco was sure he'd just gotten lucky.

At some point after Draco had won a particularly large stack of coins, Colin looked up at the sky. "It's getting rather late guys, we'll be called in for food any minute. One more game, then we'll pack it in for the day?" Draco was having a lot of fun, and he didn't really want to stop, but on the other hand he also wanted to eat food. He was starving. He and Jack nodded, and Colin's eyes glinted. "Hey... I've just had a fun idea... why don't we put all of our winnings for the day into it. All or nothing, hey guys?"

"You're only saying that because you have nothing to lose from it." Draco said with a laugh.

"Aw c'mon, please? Think how much the total winnings would be! Besides, it's not like we're betting all of the money we own, just what we've used today." Colin pouted, and Draco got the feeling somebody had been teaching him how to do the puppy face. Still, the amount of money was inspiring, and Draco was getting pretty good with the game...

"Sure, what the heck." Jack said, tossing his bag of coins on to the deck in between them with a shake of his head. They made a large thunk as they hit the deck. Draco matched his movements, his coins clinking against each other. Sure, it was all of the money Yaxley had given him (and then some), but what were the chances he'd lose? "D'ye want t'go first, Draco?"

"Ah, okay." Draco said, shaking his cup rigourously, and then looking down at his die. "Three threes..."

After peering at his die for a second, Jack bid. "Four threes."

Colin checked underneath his cup. "Five threes."

Draco frowned as he checked his dice again; he only had two threes, no ones... There was a lot of money on the line; perhaps he should play it safe... "Six threes?"

Jack nodded in consideration. He tapped his wooden leg twice- something Draco understood as being a sort of good luck charm for the man- and spoke again. "Seven threes."

"Eight threes." Colin spoke without looking at any of his die. He smiled confidently, and looked over at Draco.

"Liar." Draco accused; how could Colin be sure of his bid if he didn't even check his own die?!

Colin grinned, uncovering his cup and shoving his die into the center of the table. Draco and Jack did so as well, Jack shaking his head as he did so.

Seven threes. Two ones. That meant nine.

Draco had lost. Draco had lost everything.

Colin just smiled wider as he grabbed the bags of money. "Don't worry, Draco. I still would have won even if you hadn't accused me. Jack wasn't going to say 'liar' at anything you said because he didn't trust my hand, so he'd have bid eleven threes. Of course, I'd already guessed that nine was going to be the limit, I would have called him out on it and won."

"So... You're..." Draco's mouth was hanging open.

"Good at Liar's Dice? You could say that. Nobody normally plays with me because I almost always win, so I'm really glad you agreed to play!" Colin handed Jack two of the bags. "You said you needed to buy a new leg, right Jack? This one is burning out or something? There you go, I don't really need this much money anyway."

"But... but... today, you were..." Draco was still slightly confused.

"Loosing? Yeah, I was just pretending to be bad to try and convince you to play. A friend of mine said people will always be more accepting of things if they think they're better than you!" Colin giggled. "She also said pretending to be bad at a game so that you could win later, well, there's a word for is. Hasty, or something?"

"Hustling, Colin!" One of the sailors called from the rigging.

"Yeah, that's the one! We should play again sometime Draco, I had a lot of fun today." Colin flashed another smile and reached out his hand to help pull Draco up.

"Whatever kid. It was a stupid game anyway." Draco muttered, pulling himself up and stomping down below deck.

* * *

Draco was in a bad mood throughout dinner. He sat in the corner of the room, lips pursed, eyes trained at his plate as though he could cut the plate, the table, the entire ship, in two with one well-placed glare. Nobody approached him. Everybody approached Colin, however, patting him on the back, laughing with him, ruffling his hair... congratulating him on 'taking the spoilt brat down a peg'.

See. This is what happens when you try to make friends.

Draco was still grumpy when Colin approached him after dinner, as Draco was climbing into his hammock to go to bed. He'd started to remove his shirt during night time, so that it would be cleaner for longer, and also because the heat (and stench) was stifling in a room of over a dozen sleeping, muscly men who hadn't bathed in forever (unless you counted waves hitting them in the face, which Draco didn't). Colin, however was still fully clothed, as he was on lookout duty in the crow's nest that night, and it was cold once the sun went down.

"Draco?"

"Go away, kid."

"No, Draco, hear me out a sec." Colin took a deep breath. "I know you feel embarrassed about how I hustled you, and I get it. I wouldn't like it if somebody tricked me either. But that's how I make most of my money, since my wages are always smaller than everybody else's. My family is really poor, and since my Dad had his accident nobody will hire him and there's only so much work my Mum can take on with my little brother at home. I've been hopping from ship to ship getting work, but because of labour laws they can't take me on for too long. They find out my age soon enough, even if I lie. So by taking money off people in games like Liar's Dice, I can send my family the kind of money I should be earning."

"I don't give a fuck about your sob story." Draco muttered.

"That's okay, I can tell you're not the kind of person who goes about giving free hugs. I'm just asking you not to hate me for cheating you out of your money, it's not like you really need it, you being a Malfoy and all, and... Oh!" Colin jumped, his voice becoming higher pitched. "N-Not that I resent you for being rich, I'm fine with it and everything, it's just that-"

"Where did you even learn to play like that anyway?" Draco asked suddenly. "You were so sure of what the dice were going to be, even though you could only see your hand. And you only looked once!"

"Oh, well one of my friends taught me. She's really smart, and she offered to teach me basic probability skills one time, to use in games like Liar's Dice and Poker and Go Fish. She says most games are a mix of logic and luck, so as long as you know probability you have a high chance of always winning!" Colin's voice shone with admiration. "She and all her friends are really cool. I want to be just like them and work alongside them, but she always says I'm too young to be a pirate."

If Draco had been drinking something at that moment, he would have spat it all over Dolohov's snoring body. As it was, he began to cough as though one of the biscuits they'd had during dinner had decided to walk back up his throat and lodge itself in the side. "P...P... Pirate?"

"Huh?" Colin looked momentarily confused. "Oh, yeah, she's a pirate. They all are, I guess. We've always been really lax about it where I'm from, though, depending on their allegiance. The people who follow Dumbledore are a cool bunch... That's Hermione and her lot, uh, she's the one who taught me about Liar's Dice, but there are another bunch of pirates as well, and they aren't so friendly. They're led by this guy who calls himself..."

"Colin!" A gruff voice called from outside of the room, and Colin gave a start.

"Oh, oh yeah, I'm on duty tonight... Um, I'll see you later, Draco! We're friends now, right?" Colin asked.

"Yeah... friends." Draco said, still shocked that he was stood so near to a person who's ambition was to become a pirate. "Um, wait, what's your name again?"

The cabin boy laughed. "It's Colin, Draco. Colin Creevey!" And with that he darted through the entrance, and Draco flopped into his bed, and promptly fell asleep, exhausted.

* * *

Colin shivered in the cold, hugging himself. For some reason, it was really cold out that night. He would do anything to be back down below deck, huddled in his hammock, or to be around a nice warm fire.

High up in the crow's nest, a person could see for miles and miles. During the day it was breath-taking, and usually the same could be said for night-time. That night, however, the moon was distant and dim, only appearing through a break in the clouds once every few minutes. When Colin usually had to be look-out, he enjoyed looking at the sky's reflection in the waves, but now they were ink black, and kind of scary. Colin found himself thinking about how deep the ocean must be, how long it would take to reach the bottom, and what kind of mysteries and creatures a person could find down there...

It was almost midnight, perhaps just gone, and Colin was one of the only people still awake on the boat. The other was a guy named Bill, who'd been assigned to steer the ship. At one o'clock they'd be able to leave- Colin would go first, and wake up their replacements who'd switch shifts with them, since Bill obviously couldn't leave his post. That was just a little longer than half an hour. In just that short amount of time, Colin would be able to sleep at last.

He yawned and stretched his arms. His entire body was beginning to get stiff, from cold, or from standing in one place too long, he wasn't sure which. He decided to turn around on the spot, suddenly aware of the fact he'd only been looking in one direction.

It would be just his luck if something crept up on the ship right now.

Colin turned slowly and looked, his muscles tensing with anticipation.

"Oh duck everything!" There was a ship pulling up right next to the Endeavour. There was a pirate ship pulling up right next to the Endeavour. There were actual people quietly boarding the Endeavour and roping the two ships together. There was an actual pirate knocking Bill out with the handle of their sword, before taking the helm. Another string of child-safe curses left Colin's mouth. Was is Dumbledore or Voldemort? Did it matter at this point? He'd get in trouble either way. He peered at the unknown ship's flag. It didn't look like one of Voldemort's... he looked down, and tried to see if he could recognise any of the pirates boarding the ship and gathering around somebody, who seemed to be in charge, sine there was a large hat (that normally meant power of some sort) wedged on top of their frizzy, out-of-control hair- _oh thank God, that's Hermione._

Colin's feet finally found themselves and he jumped over the edge of the crows nest, clambering down the rigging like a monkey. He could feel probably a million eyes looking at him, but he ignored them until he got down onto the deck.

"Colin?"

"Hi Hermione... how've you been?"

* * *

"Draco?" Draco groaned as he felt tiny hands shake his shoulders.

"Uuhhhhhh."

"Draco, you need to get up."

"Nuuuuh."

"Draco, it's really important that you..."

"We dun have time fer this." Draco yelped as he was pulled from his hammock, and his beauty sleep, into the air by a pair of strong arms.

"What? What's going on? Put me down!" The sailor that had woken Draco on his first day on the ship dropped Draco onto the floor, shaking his head.

"C'lin, get outta here soon as ye can." The sailor said, before darting out faster than Draco had ever seen the man move.

"Colin, what's going on?" Draco looked at Colin as he stood. Colin's face was a mixture of embarrassment, fear and... was that a bit of excitement?

"Um... I kind of let some pirates I knew board the ship? I mean, it's not like I could fight back or anything, and they aren't too bad of a people so I figured I should just go along with it, and now I realise that was kind of a bad thing to do because they've set fire to the ship." Colin said in a rush, each word becoming more quiet and more fast.

Draco's voice, in contrast, was very loud, and very angry. "Set fire to the ship?! I thought you said your 'friends' didn't do this kind of thing?!"

"They're still pirates Draco! And they want to disrupt a delivery going to one of Voldemort's henchmen, something your father is co-operating in!"

"Who the fuck is Voldemort?" Draco yelled, pulling at his hair. "You know what? You know what, it doesn't matter. You said the ship is on fire! We have to get out of here!"

Colin nodded, and grabbed Draco's hand, stumbling forward. It would spell trouble if the mast collapsed with the two of them trapped underneath.

Above deck, the world had turned into Hell. The air was grey and fuzzy with smoke, and hotter than any day Draco or Colin had ever experienced. The pirates had set fire to the sails of the ship, and if they had been anywhere else other than underneath them, the two boys might have stopped to admire the beauty of a ship being carried by sails of glowing orange. However, they were too scared of the prospect of the fire spreading. Which it was. It had already begun to descend it's way down the mast, and burning embers that jumped off the flames had sparked a small fire at the helm, which was spreading.

As Draco and Colin stumbled across the deck, Draco wondered why the boat was rocking so quickly. He looked up. Of course, everybody was leaving the ship, there was nobody steering the ship, that meant...

The ship gave an unexpected lurch and Colin and Draco fell backwards, narrowly avoiding a barrel of who-knew-what, which fell to it's side and began to roll across the ship.

"That was close!" Colin panted, coughing slightly. Draco wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as Colin scrambled up and reached to pull Draco up (Draco hadn't been able to regain his balance on a normal, calm day at sea, neither of them expected him to get up on his own quickly). Draco grabbed his hand, and- THUMP!

"Fuck!" Draco fell to the floor again, cursing loudly. Another lurch had caused a crate to flip, and he was trapped under a ton of... heavy stuff, he didn't know what; all he registered was that it was heavy, it hurt like a bitch, and no amount of flailing limbs would get the crate off him.

"Oh, oh no, um, don't worry, we can, we'll..." Colin mumbled continuously as he tried to pull the crate off. His fingers kept slipping from sweat as he closed his eyes in frustration and concentration and pulled, yanked, heaved at the corners. His fingers slid off the crate and he fell to the floor. "Um, we can do... How about we try..." There were tears in the corner of his eyes as he stood back up and pulled at the crate again, helplessly. What if they couldn't get Draco out? What if he burnt to death, alive? It would be Colin's fault, he'd let Hermione and her pirates on board, he'd let them set fire to the ship... "There's always... Why don't we... I..."

"Colin! Call for help, you obviously can't do it on your own!" Draco snarled, angry at the entire situation.

"I... Of course... I should... HELP!" Colin yelled, raising his voice as loudly as he could. "HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY..." He broke off in a fit of coughing from the smoke. "We... need... help!" Tears started to fall down his face. "I... I'm sorry Draco... this is..." cough "All my..." cough "Fault!"

"Damn right it's all your fault." Draco snapped, trying to turn himself to push the crate off himself. It was no use. Even if he could, he wouldn't have been able to actually move it. He wasn't strong enough. "The minute you saw their fucking ship you should have stood up to them, or gotten somebody else who could, instead of playing buddy-buddy with them." He squinted into the growing smoke. "Wait, I think... somebody's coming!"

It was true. There was a darkness to one area of the smoke that surrounded them, shaped vaguely like a person. It was Bruce, in all his lumbering, half-dressed glory, running as quickly as he could towards the pair.

Colin's face broke into a smile. "Bruce! Oh my gosh, thank God, it's, Bruce it's Draco! We, we need to, he's... wait what are you doing?" Bruce had grabbed Colin and swung him over his shoulder, like he was carrying a carpet or a barrel. "Bruce, no, we have to, we've got to help Draco..."

But Bruce was already heading back to where ever he had come from, most likely one of the small row-boats that had been piled at the edge of the ship, as Colin kicked and punched and screamed his objections. "C'lin! C'llin, listen t'me. We h've to get off 'f the ship. Now. We c'n't stop t' h'lp him. It'll take too long..."

"No it won't! We have to help him-"

"No! Yer lucky I c'ld come back t' help you. I won' risk me life fer that snotty rich boy."

Draco's eyes widened as their retreating bodies were obscured by the smoke. Did the crew really think so little of him that they wouldn't try to save him at all? His eyes began to water- from the smoke, of course, not from crying. He'd known that he hadn't been the most sociable, but surely they had some kind of annoyed affection for him? Had they hated him the entire time?

No... No, they couldn't just leave him like this! Yaxley wouldn't let them leave him like this! Yaxley had liked Draco, Draco was sure he'd liked him, just this afternoon the Captain had offered Draco a cure to his sunburn. Besides, they'd get into trouble if Draco got hurt, or died! He was the son of their boss, surely they'd realise they'd have to protect him! He was a Malfoy, he was Lucius Malfoy's son, he was, he was...

He was going to die.

He was going to die, right there in that fire, not even twenty years old, and there was nothing he could do about it. If Blaise had been there it wouldn't have happened. He'd have pulled the crate off of Draco without a problem, and probably carried him to safety as well. But Blaise wasn't there. Draco cursed Blaise for not going with him. He cursed his father, for sending him off on this Hellbound ship. Oh, how he would regret it when he realised that he'd lost his beloved son, his only heir! Then he'd be sorry for thinking that Draco needed to leave. And all of the crew, they'd regret it when they were out of a job and starving on the streets. His father might even pull enough strings to send them to jail, or have them executed.

He also cursed the kid who had gotten him into the situation. Colin Creevey, who had been too weak to move the crate, too slow to move Draco out of the way, too kind to those fucking pirates, too good and clever at that damn game that had made the crew laugh at Draco, too chirpy about everything, too happy to help, too... everything. The worst part was, he couldn't hate the brat for any of it, because he'd been genuinely distressed at Draco's situation, even going as far to try and evade his own help so that Draco could receive it.

Somewhere, he could hear somebody calling the brats name. Maybe he'd been able to get out of Bruce's grasp, and was coming back to Draco. Of course the crew would return to the blazing ship to help Colin. Everybody loved Colin. He was like the adorably naïve puppy every sailor on the Endeavor had always wanted, but Yaxley had always said no to, or something. Except he wasn't naïve because he'd beaten Draco at Liar's Dice and cheated him out of his money.

The voice was getting closer, but it was also getting fainter. Maybe Draco was dying, and that's why everything was going quiet and dark. Maybe this was the end. It was less painful than Draco had always been told, probably because he was going to Heaven. His Mother had always told him he'd be going to Heaven because he was a 'good boy' (despite Draco's frequent complaints of "I'm not a boy, Mother, I'm a man now"), but if he was such a 'good boy' why had they sent him away? Either way, Draco had to laugh. The crew would arrive beside him, but Colin wouldn't be here, it would just be Draco. Dying. And they would watch the light go out of his eyes and then, then they'd realise how wrong they'd been to leave him there. Or maybe Colin would get there first. It would serve the kid right for letting the pirates set the ship on fire. Draco would die to see the kid's face break into tears right now, high as his anger at everything was. He would die anyway. He coughed, once, twice, his body slumped, his eyesight flickered, and a pair of well-kept, polished black boots skidded inches from his face before his eyes shut.

"Colin? Colin, is that you?"

* * *

When Draco woke from his unconsciousness, the Endeavor was a beacon of dazzling light in the distance, the smoke that rose from it mixing with the night clouds. His back hurt, his lungs stung, his body burnt, and he was tied up against something very hard and possibly round (the mast, he thought in the back of his head), which wasn't helping the burning that spread across his back at all..

He opened his mouth to complain, and state about how his father would be furious at how his employees were treating his son and heir, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a groan of pain, and some other unidentifiable sounds.

He tried to look around, but the world seemed to be spinning, and whenever he moved his head knives stabbed his brain. He was vaguely aware of the sound of people speaking, but he couldn't work out what it was they were meant to be saying.

He closed his eyes for a second, but opened them again when cold steel pressed against his neck. He looked up, ignoring the stabs of pain in his mind, to see who dared to point his sword at him (and work out how he could get them to stop), but he wasn't sure what to do when his eyes met hers. Brown hair like an explosion, brown skin only a shade lighter then Blaise's, beaver teeth, and golden-brown eyes that glinted with confusion and worry and curiosity.

Then she spoke, her voice shrill and grating on Draco's eardrums. "If you aren't Colin, who are you?"

**AN: Would it be cliche of me to go dun-dun-DUN? I told you Hermione would (most likely) enter in this one- that's why it's so long, I didn't want to split it into two different chapters. It _would_ have been an average chapter length, if I hadn't had that dash of flashback inspiration. I was planning on Blaise having a part in the plot, but now he's skyrocketed up the importance ladder.**

**ALSO: If it wasn't clear in the second-to-last paragraph of this chapter, I've recently begun headcanon Hermione as being black (her skin colour is never mentioned within the book series so it's open to interpretation). I know that this isn't everybody's cup of tea, but if you're going to stop reading just because of that don't send me hate for it, please? Like, I'll accept criticism where criticism is due, but... c'mon guys. Also, Harry's also going to be black (when he eventually turns up).**

**But anyway,yeah! The plot is finally kicking off, and we're officially into the pirate part of the Pirate AU. From this point onwards there are going to be a lot of ships with a lot of people sailing (on) them, and it might be a bit hard to keep up with. So if you guys want me to, like, post a list of ships and who are on them, then just mention it in a review and I'll get right on it!**

**Please review!  
**

**~Comix**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: In Which Draco meets Hermione

Upon closer inspection of whoever she had saved, Hermione decided that they were definitely not Colin.

Their skin was too red (Colin knew how to avoid sunburn, everybody had made sure of that), his hair was so blond almost white, he was too tall (unless Colin had had a sudden growth spurt, which Hermione doubted) and overall he just didn't fit the body shape Colin had. In fact, the person was probably around Hermione's age, nowhere near Colin's. So who was he? When Hermione had heard Colin, she was sure it had been Colin, calling for help she'd risked her life to go and rescue him. But in the thick smoke, she couldn't see; she must have picked up the wrong person. What if Colin was still on board the ship? He'd probably have been burnt alive by now!

Hermione ordered a couple of the crew to tie the person up against the mast. Hermione didn't know who they were, or what they knew about Voldemort. They could be working alongside him, they could be anything. If they were restrained, she and her crew could question them.

She turned to her First Mate, Ginny, who was fixing her with a stare. "They aren't Colin, Hermione."

"I realised that, Ginny."

"So who are they?"

"I don't know. On the ship, I couldn't see, they looked enough like Colin then. But... now they don't." Hermione rubbed the back of her neck.

"We have no idea who they are, they could be dangerous." Ginny warned.

"That's why we're tying them up, Gin." Hermione sighed. "I'm sure it was Colin's voice... what if he's still on board?"

"We can't go back, Hermione. The fire's too big now." Hermione looked over at the ship, which lit the night sky like a lantern. Ginny shifted her weight from one foot to the other and nudged her friend. "Hey, at least whatever-it-was that Voldemort wanted is destroyed now, right?"

"Ehh..." Hermione's voice rose a few octaves, and Ginny's eyebrows raised.

"Right, Hermione? ...Hermione I swear to God..." Ginny growled, as Hermione pulled a scroll of paper from one of her pockets. "Oh my God, Hermione, you didn't!"

"I did." Hermione blushed slightly. "I was curious, Ginny! It's a map, I think. What would Voldemort want with a map?"

"I don't know, but we didn't board and set fire to a ship to not destroy something Voldemort's after! Now he can just have one of his minions board our ship and take it from us." Ginny ranted, throwing her hands into the air. "I thought you were smart, Hermione!"

"I am smart." Hermione said defensively. "But think, if Voldemort wants this, then it has to be important, right? We could use this."

"How?"

"I don't know, we'll have to actually look at it first." Hermione shrugged.

"Well, I say we toss it overboard and hope the fish eat it." Ginny said, making a grab for the paper.

Hermione stood on her tip-toes to keep it out of Ginny's reach. "And I say we look at it before getting rid of it, Ginny. Who's the Captain here?" Ginny pouted, and Hermione frowned. "Come on, Gin. Just one little look. It could turn into another adventure? I know you like adventures."

"… I do like adventures." Ginny conceded, lowering her hand. "Just one look, and if it's not interesting..."

"I'll rip it into pieces, I promise." Hermione said, with both of them knowing she would do no such thing. But the idea was there. Ginny rolled her eyes, and Hermione put the paper back into her pocket. She'd look at it more closely later.

At that moment, a noise came from the mast. The person Hermione had found had woken up, and was trying to speak, but he sounded more like a dolphin than a person. Hermione and Ginny shared a look, and Hermione drew her cutlass as she approached the person, raising it to their throat. They opened their eyes, panicked, and Hermione noticed they were grey. That settled it, the person definitely wasn't Colin; Colin's eyes were brown.

"If you aren't Colin, who are you?" Hermione asked, her heart beating quickly.

All that came out of their mouth was a gurgle of wordless nonsense. Hermione bit back a groan of frustration... perhaps they were deaf? If Hermione was going to sign to them, she'd have to lower her sword. And she'd have to cut the ropes so that they could answer... and who said they even knew sign language anyway?

But then the person spoke. "I-I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy estate, please don't kill me!"

Hermione half thought about lowering her sword. The guy was obviously scared shitless...

"Malfoy? As in Luicus Malfoy, right?" Ginny piped up, and the boy - Draco - looked over to her, wincing for some reason.

"Y-yeah, and he'll be super angry if anything happens to me, so..." He trailed off, and Hermione lowered her cutlass. Ginny walked over to them and leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear.

"'Mione, maybe Malfoy sent his son to supervise the transport of that map. He might know something."

"You're right Ginny." Hermione replied in a hushed voice, before raising it to talk to Draco again. "What were you doing on that ship, Malfoy?"

"Uh... Business studies." Draco said. "Learning about the sea... and stuff. For when I'm older, taking over the business and everything."

"He's lying." Ginny whispered. "Oi! Why would you need to go on a boat if all you'll be doing is sitting in an office signing papers?"

Draco made a face. "That's what I said! All I'll have to do when I'm in charge is supervise, it's all maths, that's exactly what I said to Blaise. There was no reason for me to go on that ship, I told my father so, but no, that wasn't good enough for him, he wanted me to get experience. Look how that turned out! I lost all my money gambling, almost died in a fire, and now I've gotten kidnapped by pirates!"

Hermione and Ginny barely stopped themselves from bursting out laughing. "Yeah," Hermione whispered to Ginny. "Like he knows anything."

"Snape's more likely to be involved with Voldemort than this idiot." Ginny agreed. She paused. "So what do we do with him, then?"

Hermione frowned. "I... Well, let's untie him, for a start, it can't be comfortable." She swung her blade, Draco flinching as she neatly cut through the ropes. Without them holding him up, Draco collapsed onto the floor, hissing in pain as the wood contacted his blistered skin. "And sort out his burns."

"Those aren't from the fire, though, that's sunburn." Ginny pointed out.

"Eh, I'm sure we can fix it either way." Hermione assured her. "Steve!" At the call of his name, a sailor walked over from whatever he had been doing. He was short and kind of round, a bit like a pig- less pink than a pig, but just as stout, dirty and hairy. He wore a rather stereotypical black pirate hat over his grey, thinning hair (it was hiding the bald patch that he refused to admit was there); his hands were covered in wrinkles, and his face only sagged when he stopped smiling.

"Aye, Cap'n?" The old man's voice was croaky but lilting, it reminded Draco briefly of waves crashing against the shore.

"Steve, could you take Mr. Malfoy down below and fix his skin problem? Then bring him back up to my quarters, we're going to have to have a little talk." Hermione ordered, before spinning on her heels and leaving.

"Sure thing." Steve called to her, reaching under Draco's armpits to haul him up.

"I can get up myself, you know." Draco complained.

"Sure thing." The old man laughed, steering Draco below deck to an area curtained off by a dirty what-once-was-white cloth. "Strip then, let's have a look-see."

Even though Draco had spent most of his childhood being dressed and undressed by his family's servants, he still found it uncomfortable getting naked in front of Steve, mostly because of the fact he was a man, and an old one at that. As he pulled his legs out of his trousers one at a time, Steve clambered up onto a stool, then a counter, and used some empty shelves as a foot-holder as he climbed a cabinet. At the top of the cabinet, arranged neatly in a line, were a bunch of boxes and jars. One of Steve's wrinkly hands grabbed a box to the far right, then he descended back to the floor.

As Steve set about doing whatever it was he was doing (Draco didn't care), Draco sat down on a small table, and took a chance to look around the room they were in. Not that there was much to look at. There were a bunch of jars and pots, and boxes, and a couple of books, but nothing special. "Um, what is all this?"

"The jars? Aye, this is our little emergency room. The Cap'n let's me potter around in here 'cause once I told 'er 'ow I'd like to be a Doct'r one day. She got most o' this stuff from a tall fella she's friends with, 'e's got quite a bit of a garden, so I'm told." Steve looked over his shoulder and grinned at Draco. "This plant 'ere should calm yer skin down. 'M mixin' it with a bit o' sea water, probl'y gonna hurt a bit... But it'll do the trick, aye, sure thing." He grabbed a jar of sea water and poured a couple of drops into the mortar he was crushing the plant into, continuing to pound the pestle into the stone base. "Then it'll be simple t' manage yer skin. Just cover i' up and try to exp'se yerself grad-u-lly." The old man spun on his toes, walking over to Draco with the paste he had created. "They didn' try much to 'elp you on yer ship, did they, boy?"

"Uh... Well, they were going to, but..." Draco faltered as he looked at the thick, green paste. "Are you really going to put that on me?"

"Sure thing." Steve nodded, laughing shortly. "It's gonna sting a bi', mind." And with that, he thrust his chubby, dirty fingers into the green paste, and began to spread it across Draco's burnt shoulder.

Draco let out a blood-curdling scream; the paste burned worse than anything he had ever experienced before. It was most likely the salt from the seawater that stung against his raw skin like a thousand ants biting him all over. "Ach, don' be such a baby." Steve chuckled. "Gotta lay it on thick, 'ere, fix y' up."

By the time Steve had covered all of the areas and rubbed the green, bumpy paste in (much to Draco's complaint) Draco's body had all but gone numb from the pain. Steve grabbed some clothes from another section behind the curtain, and placed them beside Draco. "Dun put them on yet, y' need to le' it dry first. Oth'wise yet clothes'll be all sticky." Draco agreed, thinking more about how it would hurt if he put the clothes on. A small part of him thought about just staying naked, but he couldn't bring himself to walk outside naked. Aside from how people might laugh at him, it would also be undignified... and he might get sunburn in... less than pleasant places... "Le's talk, t'pass the time."

"Whatever." Draco mumbled, and the old man laughed, pulling the stool from the cabinet to sit across from Draco.

"Y' not very soci-a-ble, are you? Wha's yer name? 'Ermi-ne called yeh 'Mister Malfoy'."

"Well, that is my name." Draco replied shortly. He was mostly trying to keep his answers short because he could sense a whine in his voice.

"Odd firs' name, 'Mister'." The old man laughed. "Fancy callin' your son 'Mister'. Y' wouldn't catch me callin' my chil'ren 'Mister', though suppose i's what they do in those posh places o' yours."

"My name isn't Mister, it's Draco." Draco snapped. The man laughed louder.

"Oh, as if tha's any better."

"It's Latin."

"'N' my names from the Bible. I think. Steve, by the way. Ev'ryone calls me Steve." The man laughed. "Latin... What's it mean?"

"Dragon."

"Aye, imagine bein' named aft'r a dragon. D'ye reckon they're real then? Those fire-breathers?" Steve chuckled. Draco briefly questioned why people were always laughing whenever he spoke to them. Was he really that funny? Or was there something in the water these sea-people drank?

"Of course not." He replied, scoffing.

"O' course not." Steve repeated. "Y'know, there are many folk who reckon they're real. Them an' plenty o' other myth-cal creatures. Won't see many out 'ere... Ha! See, sea.. Reckon there are plenty water creatures, though. Hidin' in the depths..."

"That sounds stupid."

"Nothin's stupid, Draco Dragon. 'Til som'thin is proven to be false, then we 'ave to think that i's true." Steve blinked slowly. "We can't dive deep 'nough to discover 'em, prob'ly don' wanna be found."

"Or maybe myths are myths." Draco said.

"Or maybe myths 'r' myths. We don' know. But it's best to keep an open mind." He stretched, reaching his short arms to the sky. "Well, tha' should do it. You put yer clothes on now, then go up to see the Cap'n, she'll be in 'er Quarters on the other end o' the ship, can't miss the door. I best be off back to work." He stood, wiggling his toes, and strode away. He popped his head around the curtain second after he had left, grinning. "Oh, and by the way, welcome to Spew, Draco Dragon."

As Draco hissed and pulled the scratchy material over his red skin, he wondered what the fuck Steve was on about. What the Hell was Spew?

* * *

A couple of seconds later Draco was stood outside, knocking on the door Steve said the Captain would be behind. He found it odd to think that, just yesterday, he had been in the same situation, yet on a different ship. How had everything changed so quickly. The Captain's voice, less shrill now she had calmed down, called for him to enter, and he opened the door.

Inside, the Captain was alone, without their hot-headed ginger friend. The Captain was hunched over their desk, several maps spread out in front of them. She looked up when Draco entered, and flashed him a quick smile. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I guess Steve fixed you up, then?"

"It hurt like hell." Draco complained, and the girl (or should he say woman?) rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a baby. It doesn't hurt that badly." She took one last look at her map, and then stood up straight, walking over to Draco and shaking his hand. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, my name is Hermione Granger, and this is my ship."

"Uh, Steve called it... Spew?" Draco said, as he and Hermione sat down next to the desk.

Hermione groaned. "I've told them to stop calling it that. The ships full name is 'The Ship Purposed for the Exploration of Water', but of course that's too long to keep saying. I've said to shorten it to 'S.P.E.W.', but now everybody just says 'Spew' instead." She sighed. "It can't be helped, I guess. So, you're certain that you were just on that ship to learn the ropes? No... hidden agenda, or anything?"

"No!" Draco said, exasperated. "Why do you keep asking me that? I was just on the ship to see what it's like, my father made me do it, I have no idea what you mean by 'hidden agenda'!"

Hermione nodded. "I believe you, but... You have to understand, that ship had no ordinary purpose. It was carrying something that we believe is very important, something that Voldemort wanted very badly. This map," Hermione pointed to an old, weathered piece of paper that was in the middle of the table, "could lead to something... well, I don't know. Amazing."

"So you raided the ship to... retrieve it?" Draco asked, looking at it. It was written in a language he didn't understand, and the ink was blotchy.

"Well," Hermione blushed slightly. "The original intention was to destroy it, but... it's so interesting, I couldn't get rid of it. Who knows what it might lead to? And if Voldemort wanted it, it could eventually give us an advantage, over him!"

"Wait, wait, I've heard that name before." Draco frowned. "Who's Voldemort?"

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "Who's... You don't know? Have you been living under a rock? Well, I suppose since your father was in league with him you'd never need to know, but... You truly don't know who Voldemort is?"

"No! And what do you mean, my father's in league with him?"

"I... It's a very long story, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione shook her head.

"We have time."

"…Okay. I guess it started around twenty-five, thirty years ago..."

**A/N: Hello! I finally finished writing this! I said I'd publish every week, and as soon as I said that... I skipped a week. I apologise. Most of this chapter was written, I was just having a hard time finding Steve's voice :( **

**Also, I've created the list of ships, and filled in the people we know so far. It's on my profile, and I'll add information to it as the story progresses. Hope it helps!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: In which Draco accidentally becomes a pirate

"It started around twenty-five, thirty years ago. In truth, the story belongs a lot long before that, possibly when Voldemort was born. But nobody knows a lot about how he started out... Around thirty years ago, he began recruiting, finding pirates and asking them to join him, to work alongside him for a common goal - controlling the entirety of the Pacific Ocean. Many people joined him, others agreed to help him out of fear... He terrorised the sea, attacking islands and ports and stealing resources, and, all in all, being a total dick, I guess.

"That was when the Order of the Phoenix was created. A man named Albus Dumbledore also began recruiting, to stop Voldemort, and a number of ships agreed to join. One of them... One of them was called 'The Marauders Map', and it was crewed by only four people, can you imagine? I've been told it was quite a big ship, but they were able to manage it, all on their own. They called themselves Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, but their real names were Remus, Peter, Sirius and James... James Potter. Life was pretty great for them, chasing down Voldemort's pirates, chasing down other ships with money, generally causing a nuisance... But it didn't last.

"Peter... I don't know what happened. I don't know whether somebody approached him, or he'd always been... I don't know. But Peter betrayed his friends, helped Voldemort sink The Marauders Map, and then he joined him. The other three went on to sail their own ships, James found a crew and captained The Lightning Bolt, named because it was the fastest ship anybody had ever seen; Sirius and Remus decided to get a ship together, they called it the Wolfstar, it's pretty fast too. And sneaky, it hardly makes a sound as it shoots through the waves... Anyway, James spent less and less time at sea, because he'd realised... How do I put this? Let me go back a second. Before Dumbledore created the Order, James and his friends were still pirates. One day he and his friends stopped for the night in a place called Cokeworth, it was there he met a girl called Lily; Lily Evans. He fell in love with her at first sight, Lily... less so. She thought he was an arrogant prat, but James swore one day he'd convince her that she was his true love. He spent less and less time at sea, because he was trying to show Lily how much he loved her. Some time along the way, she began to love him back. They bought an inn by the sea called Godric's Hollow, where..."

"Granger, no offense, but how does this love story fit in to the rest of the tale?" Draco cut in. As he'd been listening, the ship around him had melted away, but it jilted back as he broke the silence. It wasn't that he didn't like romance stories (it had always been a center focus when he was playing with his dolls as a child), but he had asked her about Voldemort, not James Potter and Lily Evans.

"Well, if'd you shut your mouth, I'd tell you." Hermione replied. Her tone was polite, though her words were far from it. Draco rolled his eyes, and Hermione continued.

"They bought an inn by the sea, called Godric's Hollow, where, soon after, Lily gave birth to a little boy, which they named Harry. By then James had pretty much given up piracy, though of course he tried to help all he could with defeating Voldemort. Voldemort was jealous of The Lightning Bolt, however- did I mention how it was possibly the fastest ship on the waves?"

"Yes."

"He was jealous of its speed, and he wanted it for himself. Several times, he sent threats to the Potters, practically ordering them to hand over the ship. Of course, James would never have willingly given Voldemort something that could help him. He organised with Sirius to give The Lightning Bolt to him only weeks after Voldemort's third warning.

"However, they were too late. Voldemort sent one of his most loyal followers to Godric's Hollow. She burnt the inn to the ground, and stole The Lightning Bolt. By the time Sirius arrived, the house was no more, and..." Hermione drew in a breath. "And there were soldiers everywhere. They saw him, recognised him as a pirate, and arrested him for piracy. At least, that's what we believe. We don't know where he is."

"Is it possible he was the one who did all that?" Draco asked, and Hermione looked at him, her expression puzzled.

"I... I guess it is possible. I never thought of it like that before, but... it's only speculation that Bellatrix has the boat. Nobody's seen it since. Sirius..." She trailed off, sounding mildly horrified at the thought. "When everything calmed down around the inn, Dumbledore went himself to see what was left. And all that was left was Harry."

"You mean his dead body, right?" Draco asked.

"No, Harry. He was still alive, somehow, when the fire was put out." Hermione insisted. "Nobody knows how he survived, by all accounts he should have died from the heat of it, even if the fire never reached his crib, but... He survived. Voldemort lay low for the next fifteen years, or so. Nobody knew where he was, or what he was doing... As far as many of us knew, he'd given up. But he hadn't. He bid his time, building from scratch six of the ships that now head his fleet. And now he's started terrorising the seas again..."

"And the Order of the Phoenix is going to try to stop him again, right?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded. Draco yawned, stretching. "Okay, I think I get it now. But where does my father come into all of this?"

"He signed an agreement with Voldemort, agreeing to supply Voldemort's ships with food, drink, and ammunition, in return for safe passage through areas his ships frequent. Aside from that, many of Malfoy's ships have also delivered items Voldemort has found interest in right to his front door, in a manner of speaking." Hermione explained. "Including this map." She gestured to the map that was still on the table. "I'm not sure why he wanted it, or what it says, just yet, but I'm going to find out."

"How? It's in some ancient language." Draco complained, looking it over.

Hermione shook her head. "No, not that ancient. It wasn't too long ago that it was the official language of most Spanish colonies... It's Nahuatl. The paper's quality does suggest that it was made a long time ago, though. I know a bit of the language, I'd hardly call myself fluent, so firstly I'm trying to match up the land-formations with some of the areas on my maps, see?" Draco moved to look closely at the maps that were around the small, old paper. "But a lot could happen within then, and now. The ins and outs of the islands and coasts could have changed, I don't know... Anyway!" Hermione clapped her hands together, and Draco looked up. "We still haven't discussed what you're going to do."

"W-what I'm going to do?" Draco stuttered. "No, no, I don't do this whole ship thing. If it weren't for my father threatening to cut me off, I wouldn't even have been on the Endeavour in the first place! I can't take a place in your crew."

"I don't want you to be a part of my crew." Hermione snapped back. "I'm talking about where you want me to drop you off."

"Why don't you want me to be a part of your crew?" Draco said, frowning.

"You have sunburns all over your upper body, you stumble around on the deck as though your drunk and you almost pissed yourself at the sight of my sword!" Hermione listed.

"It was at my throat, what did you expect me to do?!"

"Have some composure, at least! Why are you complaining, you just said you didn't do, and I quote, the 'whole ship thing'!" Hermione huffed, blowing a stray piece of hair away from her face. "Look, is there anywhere you want us to drop you off?"

Draco took a few deep breaths. "My home is at Wickwitt."

"Mr. Malfoy, with all due respect, I am not turning my ship around and going all that way back to Wickwitt, especially when that is the way your fellow crew are going, we'd be hung in an instant." Hermione said, smiling insincerely.

"Then... Drop me off anywhere, I can find my own way home." Draco said, adding hurriedly, "anywhere with a dock, that boats frequent."

"Of course. I wouldn't maroon a person on an island for no reason." Hermione said, looking away.

"I didn't say you would."

"You suggested it from your tone of voice."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"All I was saying is that..."

"I understood what you were saying perfectly well, Mr. Malfoy."

"You didn't let me finish..."

"I don't think I really need to."

"Well if you would just shut that..."

"THAT... is enough, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione stood up. "We are both very tired, it has been a long day, and it is almost morning. I am going to take a short nap, I suggest you do the same below deck." When Draco didn't move, she added, "that was your cue to leave, Mr. Malfoy."

"Fine." Draco stood up, and left the room, letting the door bang behind him.

"Well, that was interesting." Draco jumped as the red-headed girl the Captain had been speaking with before appeared in front of him, her arms crossed, and eyebrows raised humorously.

"Ah..." Draco almost screamed, but swallowed it at the last second. He didn't want to sound scared, or anything. "Ah... Um... Who are you?"

"Ginny." The girl, Ginny, smirked, holding her hand out for him to shake. "I hope you realise that we aren't going to divert our course just to help you get home."

"Yes, of course I knew that." Draco lied, shaking her hand. He had kind of been hoping that there would be a port somewhere that they would stop at soon, of course he now saw that was too much to ask for. Luck really wasn't on his side lately.

"Good. And I hope you also realise that you can't just loaf about, right?"

"Huh?"

"If you're going to stay on this ship, you'll need to help out; that's what I'm saying." Ginny expanded, smiling at him.

"Oh."

"Oh is right, Mr. Malfoy, or can I just call you Malfoy? It's easier." Ginny shrugged. "So is your 'oh' a 'sure, fine, let's do this', Malfoy? Because I have a deck that really needs swabbing..."

"But Granger, I mean, the Captain, ordered me to go below deck and... uh... recover the sleep I lost during the night." Draco said, seeing that the sky was beginning to lighten.

"Oh, you think you're the only one who was up all night?" Ginny said with fake sympathy. "I'm sure you're very used to getting your own way, Malfoy, but on Spew it's going to be different. Everybody on board is tired, and I have set aside time for everybody to catch up on sleep, however it's a rota. And you aren't first. Sorry!" She didn't sound sorry at all. Ginny pointed to a mop, and a bucket. "So, there's your job, I'll come get you when it's your turn to have your beauty sleep."

"What if I finish my job before it's my turn?" Draco asked seriously.

Ginny laughed. "I doubt that, Malfoy. But, in case you do, there are plenty of things that need to be done on board. Tata, now!" And with that, she slipped past him into the room Draco had just vacated.

"Isn't Granger meant to be...? Whatever." Draco shook his head, sighing, and walked over to pick up the mop. He supposed it was easier to just go along with whatever the pirates wanted, and they would let him leave as soon as they hit port. Surely that wouldn't take forever, they'd have to restock food and stuff...

"Oh! I forgot!"

"Ah!" This time Draco really did scream. He turned to glare at Ginny, who had popped her head out of the door. "What?"

"I forgot... Welcome to Spew! I hope you have a wonderful, life-changing time as a part of our crew." Ginny parroted. "Heh, that's something I say to all of our new crew members." She closed the door again, leaving Draco to stand gawping at where she'd been.

"C-c-crew member?!"

* * *

"Hey Hermione." At the sound of Ginny entering, Hermione opened her eyes and groaned.

"Ginny I'm trying to sleep." The Captain sighed, stretching.

"Sorry about that. I put Malfoy's kid on swabbing the deck, that should keep him busy for a while... what are we going to do about him, Hermione?" Ginny asked, walking over and sitting in the seat Draco had been sat in not half and hour ago. "If we let him go, and he tells his father we didn't destroy the map, and word gets back to Voldemort..."

"I know. Maybe we should just avoid visiting any ports until we've fully investigated this map." Hermione said. "I can't help but feel as though it's extremely important for some reason; we can't get rid of it."

"But Hermione, what about food, and..."

"I know. But what else can we do? Maybe the Flamels would let us borrow some supplies after we've helped them." Hermione said. "That should be our first concern right now. They're offering a lot of money if we can help them, and besides, we promised Dumbledore we would."

"I still think he's just trying to get us out of the way." Ginny mumbled. Hermione nodded.

"Yes, we all know that Dumbledore thinks we're too young to be in this War. Us, Harry, your brother... Neville, Luna... But never-the-less, he asked us to raid the merchant ship to get the map, while on our way to help the Flamels. And so that's the plan we're following."

"He asked us to destroy the map, Hermione."

"What Dumbledore doesn't know won't hurt him, Ginny." Hermione smiled. "Let's just focus on doing the other thing Dumbledore wanted us to do. Are we still on course for the island the Flamels are staying on?"

"Yes, Hermione, of course we are. It should only be a few more days until we get there."

"Good! Maybe Nicolas could help us with the map as well, I'm not exactly fluent in Nahuatl, and it seems to be some local dialect of the language I'm not too familiar with..."

"Well, I might not be too good with languages, but let me see if I can recognise any of the coastal patterns." Ginny grinned, and Hermione smiled back. Together, they began to see if they could figure out the map.

**A/N: Hello again! Wow, this chapter was a lot easier to write than the last one. In fact, it was so easy to write, that straight after I finished it I moved onto (and finished) the next one! I might post it some time this weekend, depending on how quickly I write the next one, and how this chapter is received *hint hint*.**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: In which Hermione helps the Flamels, and Draco makes friends

It took three days to get Draco's sleeping schedule back to normal. By that time he was also getting rather used to life on Spew. Just like on the Endeavour, nobody really took him seriously, however they were friendly with him. Ginny enjoyed poking fun at his mannerisms, Steve wouldn't stop calling him Draco Dragon (luckily, the nickname had not spread to the rest of the crew), and, curiously, the Captain refused to leave her quarters.

On his fourth day aboard the pirate ship, Ginny decided she had enough time to strike up a conversation with him. "So, Malfoy, what exactly did they teach you on that merchant ship of yours?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"I mean, what did you learn on the ship? Obviously, you know next to nothing about ships, that's why your Dad sent you away, right? So what did you learn?"

"I don't know." Draco looked away from her. "Mostly I swabbed the deck, you know... stuff like that... they taught me how to do a couple of knots, but I never tried anything."

"Huh. Would you like to?"

"What?"

"I said, would you like to?" Ginny rolled her eyes, speaking in a mocking tone as she dragged out every syllable.

"Uh... I guess? Sure?" Draco wasn't sure what answer she really wanted out of him.

"Okay then! Hey! Lionel!" Ginny called out to one of the men who was tightening a rope against the bannister. He looked up, and nodded. "D'you think you could teach Malfoy here a thing or two about tying stuff together?"

"Bring 'im over." The man called out. Ginny gave Draco a little push that sent him stumbling over to the tall pirate.

"Malfoy, this is Lionel, our 'rope expert'." Ginny introduced with a grin. "Lionel, this is Draco Malfoy, you know, he'll be staying on our ship for a while, and I don't want him to do nothing for his time here. So... could you show him the ropes?" Ginny giggled slightly at the bad pun, and Lionel rolled his eyes.

"I'd 'ardly call myself a rope expert, Miss Ginny, but sure enough." He tightly pulled at the thick rope he was holding, and gave it a pat. He stood up, and held his hand out to Draco. Draco shook it. "Let's see what you already know..." He took a couple of smaller, thinner ropes out of his pocket. "Always carry 'em around with me, 'elps with my nerves, y'know?"

"Yes." Said Draco, not really knowing at all, but not wanting to be rude. He'd learnt his lesson from his previous journey on the Endeavour; making friends could turn out to be useful in the long run, just like his mother had once told him.

"Well, I'll leave you to it! Thanks, Lionel!" Ginny poked her tongue out, and swaggered off to another part of the ship to talk with another sailor, Wayne Portchester, to make sure that they were still on the right course. With Hermione holed up in her 'study', hardly tearing her eyes off of the map (that Ginny still thought belonged in the bottom of the ocean), Ginny was stuck with all the work they normally did together. It was tiring, and to be frank, Ginny was sick of it.

After half an hour had passed since she'd dumped Draco on Lionel, she took a moment to peer at the pair out of the corner of her eye. Lionel was casually leant against the railing, Draco sat on a barrel beside him. The blond's face was scrunched up in concentration as he nervously manipulated one of the ropes. From the looks of it he was creating a pretty basic knot that was used to tie things down, but he was still having difficulty. He threaded the rope through a loop and pulled it taut. The knot collapsed, and the teen threw the rope down as he groaned loudly, half of the crew looking up to see what the commotion was about. Lionel was a good teacher, and didn't berate him, simply picking the rope back up and showing Draco exactly where he had gone wrong. Ginny could tell he was going slowly- she hadn't been kidding when she'd called him a 'rope expert', the man could complete extremely complicated knots in under a minute, yet his hands moved slowly as he explained to Draco (in a calm, level voice Ginny never would have had if she'd been teaching him) how the knot was tied.

In her opinion, the Malfoy boy was a fucking useless sailor. Ginny understood that not all people could succeed at practical skills first time, but he was proving to be borderline incompetent at all of the basics of sailing. What his father was thinking, sending the idiot to sea alone, was beyond her. If Ginny had been in charge of his well-being, she probably wouldn't have let him out of the house. Of course, if Ginny had been in charge of his well-being, she probably wouldn't have cared anyway.

She turned, stalking up one end of the deck to the other. It wasn't often that she felt the need to pace, but recently she'd felt caged. It was odd, since Spew was a place she'd often associated with freedom. Ginny guessed it had something to do with the extra duties Hermione had dumped on her. If Ginny had had it her way, the map would be at the bottom of the ocean... though the idea of an adventure was tempting. One thing was for certain, Ginny wouldn't be letting Hermione get this obsessed again if she could help it. Honestly, if Ginny had to spend another moment looking out at the ocean without seeing anything different, she would scream.

There was a shout from above. "Land ahoy, Quatermaster! An island, to the northeast!"

Ginny almost jumped for joy. The direction seemed to match up with the directions Dumbledore had given them, the island the Flamels currently lived at was finally in sight! She grabbed a hold of the rigging, swinging herself up a couple of holds before climbing up the rest until she was halfway to the crows nest. "How far away?"

"Not to far, ma'am, I'd say; keep a steady course in the direction we'll be there within a day, wind be willing!" The young lad perched excitedly on the edge of the crows nest replied. Ginny wasn't the only one who'd been itching to stretch her legs on land, it seemed. She climbed back down and went to the helm, but Wayne had already heard the news and had altered their course 5 degrees to angle them straight towards the island. She thanked him, and practically skipped her way to the room Hermione had holed herself up in since the raid on the merchant ship.

"Hermione!" Ginny yelled, as she burst through the door. Hermione jumped, almost knocking over a lantern perched beside her. She blinked a couple of times, having almost fallen asleep when the redhead arrived.

"Ginny, what is it?" Hermione asked tiredly.

"God, Hermione, you look terrible." Ginny said, momentarily forgetting her huge news. It was true. Hermione's hair was even more wild than usual, she'd managed to put her jacket on backwards at some point, and there were bags bigger than Spew's main mast sagging under her eyelids.

"Thank you Ginny." Hermione replied derisively. She stretched, yawning. "I just need a good nights sleep."

"You need several. When's the last time you slept?"

"I was about to, when you walked in." Hermione shook her head, to regain her focus. "I think I may have pinpointed one of the islands on the left corner of the map. Now all I have to do is..."

"Hermione, get your head out of that map for a minute, would you? You're drowning yourself in it." Ginny said, walking over to her friend. "I get that you want to find out where it is, but it isn't worth losing sleep over. Besides, you have other things to think about right now."

"Like what?" Hermione sounded genuinely concerned through her thick tiredness. "Is there unrest on deck?"

"I guess- they're excited, Hermione. We've spotted land. It's the Flamels island, we'll more than likely be there by morning." Ginny's eyes sparkled.

"Oh. That's good."

"I know! Urgh, I've felt so cooped up for the past few days. I hope you don't mind me disappearing on you while we're there, I want to do some exploring." Ginny said.

"That's fine, Gin'. You know it is." Hermione smiled. "I'm sorry. I've been so preoccupied with this map, I didn't even think about helping you organise and run the ship. God, you must feel stressed."

"Just a little." Ginny said, before grinning. "Nothing a bit of chocolate can't cure."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ginny, you know it's expensive, and that I'm keeping it in case Remus ever comes to pay a visit."

"But Hermione!" Ginny moaned, dragging out her friends name as she collapsed onto a chair pathetically. "I've been working myself to the bone for you, don't I deserve something in return?"

"You want a raise?"

"No I don't want a raise." Ginny snapped. "I want some chocolate." Her tone turned persuasive. "Just a little bit, you won't even miss it! Please?" She blinked slowly. "For me?"

Hermione sighed, and stood, walking over to a cabinet built into the wall. Inside the cabinet, amongst other things, was a small box. And in the box was half a bar of chocolate, the rest having already been eaten by Ginny, Hermione, and some others Hermione had chosen to share it with. "Fine. But only a little bit." Hermione said, breaking off a small amount from the corner. "A tiny bit, really. Hardly enough to sink your teeth into."

Ginny cheered as Hermione gave it to her, popping it into her mouth immediately. The dark treat was slightly bitter, but smooth as she swallowed, and Ginny smiled. "Thanks so much, Hermione."

"Yeah, yeah. You aren't getting any more."

"I won't ask for any more... for a while." Even if Hermione hadn't seen Ginny's smirk, she could have heard it from her tone. "So, yeah, we'll be reaching the Flamels by tomorrow morning. Remember, Dumbledore recommended us for the task personally, so we have to be presentable. I'll have the crew use a bit of the fresh water reserves to give themselves a wash down; you should wash too. And get a good nights rest... and also put your jacket on the right way."

"You sound like your mother." Hermione chuckled, and Ginny reached over to smack her.

"Hey, I'm just looking out for you, since you're doing such a good job right now." Ginny said. "If you're going to be huffy, I'll be on my way. Try not to get sucked back into map world again."

"No promises, Ginny!" Hermione called out as her friend left. As soon as she was gone, Hermione made an effort to clear away the things on her table. For all her temper and nagging, Ginny was right. She did need to sleep. As she crawled into the space she had created a bed inside, her last thought was that she hadn't asked Ginny how Draco was getting along. She hoped he wasn't complaining to much about his situation.

* * *

True to the young sailors estimation, Spew reached the small, forested island just after the sun came up. Draco felt better than he had in ages, having slept a solid 8 hours in his bed (he'd been sneaking bed earlier than everybody else, and nobody seemed to have noticed yet) and had his first bath (if you could call it that) in weeks. And now, to top it off, he was going to be walking on solid ground again! He'd grown homesick for the stable feeling of being on land, after the constant rocking of the boat that he'd only just found his balance for. Everybody else on board seemed to be happier as well, and were joking and laughing with each other.

Hermione had come out of her quarters for the first time in (what seemed like) forever, and Draco had noticed she'd made an attempt at making her hair behave. She also must have a spare set of clothes, Draco realised, as the white shirt she wore was actually white, and not the dirty, creamy white Draco was used to seeing.

Ginny, too, looked perkier than Draco had seen her so far. He'd overheard her talking to Lionel, apparently she was going exploring in the islands forest as Hermione helped the old couple who lived there, and she needed Lionel to watch over Spew while they were gone. Draco had noticed how she'd seemed antsy lately, maybe exploring would calm her.

The ship dropped anchor a couple of miles away from shore, and a couple of rowing boats were prepared to take them to the shore. All of the crew had wanted to go, but there had to be some people on board the ship to watch over it. Therefore, the crew had split into two groups: the first visiting during the morning, and the second visiting during the afternoon, switching over at midday. Only three of the crew were staying on the island for their whole stay: Ginny, Hermione, and Draco, whose reason for staying was that neither of the girls trusted him to keep out of trouble if he wandered off alone.

As they approached the island, there were two people stood waiting for them, waving at them happily. They were older than Draco thought they would be, both of them with long grey-silver hair tied back, away from their tanned, wrinkled faces. Their eyes were kind, but Draco couldn't really tear his eyes away from the wart on the side of the old man's nose. When the boats had hit the floor, the couple immediately approached them. The woman, wearing a slightly dirty, loose fitting dress that came just below her knees, hugged Hermione and patted her back, doing the same to Ginny, and then (much to his displeasure) Draco. The old man, whose glasses hung from a small rope around his neck, shook their hands in turn.

"Welcome to our small homestead, fellows," the old man said, "Albus said we should be expecting your help soon. My name is Nicholas Flamel, and this is my wife, Perenelle."

"Thank you. My name is Hermione, this is my First Mate Ginny... and this is Draco Malfoy." Hermione said. "My crew are also going to come ashore, but I promise that they won't stray very far from the beach."

"I, on the other hand, am off to see just how far I can get into that jungle of yours." Ginny said. "Very nice to meet you, I'm sure we'll speak again after Hermione's done here, bye." With the words rushed out of her mouth, Ginny made a beeline for the break of the jungle. Hermione seemed a bit unease at Ginny's rushed departure, but Nicholas and Perenelle simply laughed.

"Ah, she's spirited." Perenelle said. "I remember babysitting her mother." At Draco's look, she laughed again. "Yes, I am quite old, dear. Turning on 70 now!"

"More like 75..." Her husband mumbled jovially, earning himself a light slap. "You know you don't look any older than 63." Draco looked away, feeling grossed out by their affections for each other.

"You've done very well for yourself." Hermione said politely. "Ah, Dumbledore didn't tell me much about your situation, only that you could benefit from my help..."

Nicholas got the hint, and began to explain to the remaining two his life story. "Of course, of course. When I was younger, I worked as a free-lance scribe. That's when I heard about it."

"Heard about what?" Draco asked, genuinely curious.

"The Fountain of Youth, my dear." Perenelle said in a low voice. "Oh, yes, it exists, we're sure of it."

"A young man approached me one day, asked me to write out a little poem for a girl he was courting," Nicholas explained, "and I did it, I was bored, I would have done it for free if we weren't pretty much penniless. And I did it, and he then told me he had no money. Of course, I was, I was furious. All that work, for nothing. He said he'd give me water from the Fountain of Youth instead. Of course, I didn't believe him, who would, you know, who would, but I took the water anyway, he paid me back later. But the water did have magical properties. My wife and I, well, it lasted for three years, we only took small amounts at a time, and it did stop us aging. And we haven't died yet, despite being past our time, yes, we're still here. So, you see, we knew it had to exist. We've spent the rest of our lives hunting it down, going different places and looking up, looking up maps. And at last, we think we've found one, we've found a map that, that leads to the Fountain of Youth."

"So we're going to be escorting you there?" Draco said.

"No, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione shook her head. "Mr. Flamel and his wife have asked me to study their maps, since they aren't sure where exactly the Fountain of Youth is, what area the maps are referring to."

"That sounds boring." Draco commented, and Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I'm going over there instead, it looks more fun." He turned on his heel and walked back towards the beach, where some of the crew were setting up small shelters and carrying stuff from the boat underneath it. Hermione snorted as he left, apologising for his 'impolite behaviour'. Honestly, as far as Draco was concerned, she was the most boring pirate ever.

He spent the best part of the morning getting to know some of the crew better. Firstly, Steve and some of his friends decided to teach Draco how to fish.

"A lot of fish turn up 'round islands like this. A lot of them look too pretty t'eat, but it's a good source of meat, don't ya think?" A guy named Akakios (though most called him Aka) said. He'd once been a fisherman, but he'd had little luck fishing after around a decade of being in the business, so he'd become a sailor to keep his family comfortable. Though he hadn't intended to become a pirate, Hermione offered him good wages, so he couldn't complain.

"Uh, sure." Draco replied. Honestly, he found the whole rod-fishing concept confusing. Another of the group, Lei, had wanted to show them all a form of hand-fishing he'd learnt when he was younger. There had been a river that was excellent for it, however the fish had congregated up stream, and Hermione had forbidden them to go past the tree-line. "I don't see how Ginny gets to go into the jungle, but we can't."

"Well," said the final member of the group, Dermid, who had been working on Spew since the beginning. He made it out as if he had known Hermione during her childhood, and Draco thought about asking her about it later. "Well, Hermione has known her for a long time. They're very close, and they trust each other with their lives."

"Are you saying she doesn't trust us?" Draco snapped.

"Of course not." Dermid shook his head. "I'm just saying that Hermione has faith that Ginny'll come back before we leave. I don't think she'd let you anywhere near that forest, there could be animals in there, and how would you defend yourself? You can't even lift a sword."

Draco grumbled something under his breath, and yanked his rod back as he felt a pull. A small, grey fish wriggled around on Draco's hook, so small it wasn't bigger than his pinkie finger. The men laughed, and Draco pouted, throwing the fish back in the water.

"It's okay, Draco." Said Lei, placing a rather large fish he'd just caught into the bucket they were keeping it in. "It takes practise to become good at something. What's it they say? The thing about the city..."

"Rome wasn't built in a day?" Dermid supplied, his Scottish accent thick.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Probably because they took breaks." Draco said. "I'm sick of the sun, I'm going to sit down." He put the rod back next to the rest of them, and headed for the small area of shade the crew had created. As soon as he sat down, he was lured into a game of Liar's Dice by three of the other crew members: a black-haired guy named Erez, and the brown-haired brothers Roy and Scotty. Luckily, there was no money involved, the main reason Draco agreed to play in the first place.

Around midday, however, his new acquaintances all had to go back to the ship. He was tempted to go with them, but they told him that he had to stay on the island, since that's what Hermione wanted. Draco kicked the sand under his feet as they pushed the small boat out to sea. They'd left most of the things that they'd brought behind, for the next half of the crew to use during their free time, and had taken the fish with them, to put out of the heat. Draco was suddenly struck with boredom. He looked over towards the other small shelter that had been there when they arrived: the Flamel's makeshift home, where Hermione and the elderly couple were hunched over a small desk, looking at maps. He decided, since there was nothing better to do, he'd go over and have a look at what they were doing.

"Hi." He greeted, as he approached. Hermione didn't look up from the maps, tracing a path with a finger. Nicholas looked up briefly to nod, his glasses slipping down his nose. Perenelle greeted Draco politely, and offered him a seat, which he took. She then offered him a drink of water, as well as some food, which he also accepted. Hermione looked over and commented how the old woman was spoiling him, and Draco wondered how she'd react if she saw how he'd been treated at home: this was common courtesy compared to it.

"I think I'll be glad for the distraction." The old woman said, sitting down across from him on the only other chair under the canvas. "All those maps and figures are confusing me a bit."

For a while, Draco and Perenelle talked to each other. Draco enjoyed telling her about the riches of his childhood, Perenelle having lived in a similar situation for a while with her first husband. She revealed to him that Nicholas was her third, and the love of her life, as far as she was concerned. Draco found the exploits of her love life quite interesting, recognising some of them as situations he made up when he was a child, playing with his dolls. Wanting to tell her more about his 'adventures' as well, he told Perenelle about the time he and Blaise had been climbing the rocks by the dock, and Draco had fallen off and almost broken his leg.

Even though Draco did find the conversation interesting, he soon got bored of it. "Hey, Granger, when are you going to be done?"

"Don't rush me, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione replied, not looking up. "I think... I've just about found an area that matches this map, but it may still take a couple more hours."

Draco groaned. "This is taking too long." He stood up. "Thank you for the company, Mrs Flamel..."

"Please, call me Perenelle, dear. Or Nellie."

"… But I think I'll be heading back to the beach now."

"Okay, then, dearie. Have fun!"

Down at the beach, Draco found himself surrounded by people he didn't really know as well. Before, Steve had been there to introduce most of them, but Draco found himself being bombarded with names from all directions. He knew he'd never remember any of them. Feeling alienated, he sat down in the corner of the shelter. He wasn't alone for long, however, as a boy not too older than him came and sat down next to him.

"Don't mind me sitting down next to you for a while, do ya? It's a bit too loud over there for me." He said, pointing to the gaggle of pirates sat bathed in the sun. "Uh, once again, I'm Henry."

"I'm not going to remember your name." Draco said, realising too late that was rude of him. "I mean, I've had to learn too many names today, they're all going to get muddled up."

"Well then, just call me Guy until you're less muddled." The boy conceded. "Aside from being a pretty common term for man, it's also my last name."

"Okay then." Draco nodded. "Um, my name is Draco."

"I know." Henry Guy replied, then his eyes widened with embarrassment. "I mean! I mean, like, you're the only new one on the ship, so it was easy to learn your name... from, like, other people." Draco nodded.

The two boys sat in silence for a while, and then Guy pulled a small dagger and a piece of driftwood of an equal size out of his pocket. At Draco's curious glance, he explained, "My dad taught me how to whittle. He's on another ship, see. My Mum... She died a couple of years ago, from an illness. Before that she used to play chess with me, since she couldn't go out much... We had to sell her set, once she died, to make ends meet... so I'm making a new one. I'm making all the pieces out of driftwood and jetsam, see, so I know they'll float if I lose them overboard- it'll be easier to get them back that way, see... Hey, you want me to teach you how to whittle? Woodwork is a lot of fun, really!"

Still bored, Draco agreed, and the two spent the rest of their stay on the island sat with knives in their hands, and a look of intense concentration on their face. One of the other sailors (Draco was half sure their name was Collie, until he said it out loud and they corrected it to Oliver) lent Draco a spare, but it was very dull. On one hand, this was a bad thing, because it made cutting the wood harder, however if it had been as sharp as Guy's, Draco would probably have been left with only one hand. As it was, when Hermione called out that she had finished helping Nicholas, and that they had to pack up, Draco's hand was covered in small cuts. It had been fun, though.

Draco went to speak to Hermione as the others took down the sticks they'd used to prop up the shelter. He feigned interest in what she had done, though they both knew he was simply trying to avoid packing up. As he approached, Hermione lifted her hands up to her mouth and yelled Ginny's name in a louder voice than Draco had ever heard her use.

"Small chance of her not hearing that." Draco commented, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "So, how are we going to fit everything and everyone plus the Flamels onto the boats?"

Hermione looked at him oddly. "What do you mean? The Flamels aren't coming with us."

"What? But what about the Fountain of Youth?" Draco asked her, frowning.

"We aren't going to find the fountain, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione shook her head. "Didn't you hear me this morning. I was helping them locate it, theoretically, on the map. I have no interest in actually looking for it."

"But... But... You're a pirate!" Draco exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "You're meant to be doing things like this! Hunting down treasure, racing to find mythical beings and legendary artefacts! And all you're concerned with is maps?"

"I think you need to stop listening to everything you hear about pirates, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione said humorously. "It's not like that... constantly. I helped the Flamels with their map, and in return they gave us some of their food, drink, and I also got a bit of money out of the deal as well!" She held up a brown bag that jingled as she shook it. "It also turns out that Nicholas learnt quite a bit of Nahuatl when he worked as a scribe, so he was also able to translate my map for me, isn't that great?" She grinned widely, her eyes sparkling.

"I guess?"

"No, it is! He's translated the island names on there, and I recognise half of them now! I was right, the coastal patterns have changed a bit, but I now know where it's talking about. And it's not to far from here, only a day or so away, and..."

"Hermione, I thought you promised me you'd focus on the Flamels map, not yours?" Both Hermione and Draco jumped as Ginny emerged from the trees, looking slightly angry.

"I did." Hermione said. "I helped them with their map before I mentioned the subject to them."

"But you were thinking about it."

"Not hard! Just a tiny little bit." Hermione shook her head. "Ginny, you know that I always put jobs in front of my own personal goals." Ginny sighed, but nodded. "And now that we know where the map points to, we can go look."

"If Nicholas gets word back to Dumbledore you didn't destroy the map, he's probably going to be pissed." Ginny warned.

"I know. But I think Dumbledore might be interested as well." Hermione said. She clapped her hands. "Now let's get back to the ship. I'm starving, and I'm pretty sure we'll be having fish tonight!"

"Great!" Draco cheered, rubbing his belly. "I'm famished too."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Malfoy, Perenelle gave you a large lunch, how can you be hungry?"

"I'm a growing boy."

"Or maybe you're a growing pig." Ginny snorted under her breath. Hermione laughed.

"Hey!"

**A/N: Firstly, I'd like to ignore the fact that solid chocolate was not first made until the mid-1800s. I debated writing drinking chocolate instead, but normal chocolate makes more sense, so we're just going to pretend that solid chocolate was made around 10-50 years prior to this fic, okay?**

**Another long chapter! I know I'm posting it a bit early, but I figure the sooner the better right? I've pretty much finished the next chapter as well, unless I combine it with the ninth chapter as well (which I might do, but I might not, I don't know yet)... There were a lot of new characters in this chapter, so make sure to check the info in my profile if you get confused!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: In Which SPEW Does Some Exploring

Having figured out the map, Hermione went back to helping out on the ship, which made Ginny feel slightly better about her life. Understanding one part of the map's mystery also gave Hermione a spring in her step; she practically danced around the ship. She'd also gotten a lot friendlier with Draco (not that Draco cared particularly, of course). In fact, she felt so bad about how he was being forced to stay on the ship that she let him read some of her books while he didn't have work to do. Draco found most of them boring, as they covered maps and nautical nonsense and ships, things Draco didn't really care for, yet he tried his best to read them.

When he wasn't boring himself with the books, he spent a lot of time with Guy, who had almost finished making all the pieces for his chess set ("And after that all I need to do is make a board, and we're off!"). Lei had given him a pair of thick gloves as a present when he'd seen how many cuts were on Draco's hands at dinner ("Eh, don't mention it. My folks make them for a living, I've got plenty that didn't pass their standards."), and more often than not they stopped the knife from hurting Draco when it slipped past the wood. It was really hard to cut through the bark, Guy told him that it was because of how dull the knife was.

"I'd give you a sharper one, but you could seriously injure yourself." Guy mused. "Focus on having less... accidents, then I think you can get a sharper one, and you can actually whittle."

When he wasn't whittling, Draco would paint the pieces. Guy had been saving up his money, and had bought some black paint some months ago. He was keeping it tightly sealed, and allowed Draco to paint some of them black as he whittled.

"I'm only going to paint one half of the set," Guy said, "because, well, for one thing, paint is expensive... but I also like the colour of wood. Even though it's almost always different colours, it's quite pretty, you know?" Draco nodded his head in agreement.

Hermione had also taken to teaching Draco how to climb rigging, as well as other things. "Ginny was right, you know, Mr. Malfoy. You do need to help out if you're going to be sailing with us, and the first thing to learn is how to get around the ship."

With all the activities he was doing, Draco hardly noticed the passing of the days, and the way the ship slid through the waves. He didn't really pay attention to the islands they passed, though other members of the crew often looked at them, wishing to stop again to fish (they'd enjoyed the meals of fish, which had just run out). In fact, Draco was so absorbed in what he was doing he got the fright of his life when, one-day, just as the sun was reaching it's highest point in the sky, Hermione yelled out to lower the anchor.

"Wha-?" He said, the knife slipping off his piece of driftwood again. He abandoned both objects, leaving them both next to Guy, and walked over to Hermione and Ginny to find out what was going on.

"Yep, according to the map, that's the island we want to go to." Hermione nodded, pointing to a large island not so far away. Draco's eyes followed her fingers, suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding. The island, apart from its small beach, and the large piles of rocks on either side of it (which blocked the view of the rest of the islands coastline), was covered in an ominous, dense jungle. Unlike the previous island they had visited, which was full of birdsong and wildlife, this island, from Draco's hearing anyway, was suspiciously quiet.

"Looks as though nobody's ever been there before." Ginny muttered, peering at the tree-line, which looked undisturbed.

"They must have been, or it wouldn't be on the map." Hermione reasoned, rubbing her pocket. She'd placed the map inside it, next to a small, blunt pencil, in case she needed it. She didn't think she would, but she wouldn't know until she got there. She turned to her crew, who had stopped what they were doing to see what would happen next. "Is there anybody who would like to go to the island? You can fish again, or just relax, as long as you are ready for a quick getaway, if we need to." A couple of men raised their hands, including Lei and Steve, Draco noticed. "Okay. Ready the boats! Lionel," she turned to the man Draco had come to know as one of the most responsible crew members on the ship. No doubts Hermione would be asking him to watch over it. "Would you prefer to come with us, or stay? Dermid can watch the ship." Oh. That wasn't what Draco was expecting. Luckily, Lionel shook his head. "No thank you, Cap'n. Though it sounds... interesting, I would much rather stay on board, make sure everything is in order." Hermione nodded in reply. "Fair enough. In which case, it's just going to be the three of us." Hermione said, grinning at Ginny.

"Three?" Draco asked, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "You think we're leaving you unsupervised? You're coming with us, dummy." Draco blinked in shock at Ginny's statement. "Uh, could I not? I don't really feel this whole exploring thing."

"Where's your sense of adventure?!" Ginny admonished. "C'mon, Malfoy, it'll be fun! We have no idea what's out there, it could be anything..."

"Which is exactly why I don't want to go!"

"Mr. Malfoy." Hermione cut in, forever the voice of reason. "I can understand your apprehension, and I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do..."

Draco huffed. "At least somebody has some sense around here."

"...So if you'd rather stay here with Lionel, I'd be thankful for your help." Hermione smiled, her eyes lighting up in a way that caused Draco to shake with fear on the inside. "Now that we've stopped, we have access to a lot more things that need to be done. The underside of the hull has barnacles that need to be prised off… coincidentally, how long can you hold your breath?- and the deck needs to be swabbed, the hammocks need to be aired, the dishes washed, all of the knots need to be checked for wear and tear, I'd like the cannons to be cleaned out, somebody needs to take stock of everything in the hold... I'm pretty sure there's a list on my desk Lionel can fetch..."

"Urgh, fine, I'll come!" Draco snapped, pouting. "But I'm not happy about it!"

"You don't have to be. Just, don't complain verbally." Ginny said, walking past him to help lower the row boats into the water. Hermione smiled at Draco, and he stuck his tongue out at her, not caring how immature he was being.

* * *

The jungle was sweltering hot. Draco was sweating despite his light clothing. His feet hurt from walking. His shoes (and, by means of feet) were wet from stepping in brown puddles that were more mud than water. Leaves and branches kept hitting him in the face. He was tired; he was thirsty; he was starving. And Hermione and Ginny showed no signs of slowing down, or lowering their enthusiasm.

"Just look at this plant, Ginny!" Hermione would exclaim. "I'd say it's a member of the Culcitaceae family, but it's leaves are thicker..."

"Oh my God, that guy is huge!" Ginny would gasp, running away from the group to stare a spider in the face. "Let's catch it and show it to Ron!"

"Oh, Ginny, that's mean!" Hermione would chuckle, also looking closely at the arachnid. "His fur has a slightly red tinge, how fascinating. His web pattern differs from what's usual for his species as well... Oh! Careful Mr. Malfoy!" Draco paused in his step as Hermione ran over to him. "Look, you almost crushed this little guy!" He held back a scream of horror as she held up another spider, this one ink black and glaring at him, in Draco's opinion. "Aww, look at him! Despite it's smooth appearance, his cuticle is quite rough. Would you like to hold him?"

"No!" Draco backed up. "I mean, we aren't here to look at flora and spiders and stuff, right? We're looking for treasure or something."

"I would assume so," Hermione said, placing the spider onto a branch and watching it scurry away fondly. "Most maps lead to something materialistic. But, in all honesty, this entire island is fascinating! I think we'll stay here a bit longer than I intended to, I'd like to come back with my notebook and take samples."

"Malfoy, that frog on your head has the most adorable spots!" Ginny cooed, and Draco was suddenly aware of a weight on his head. He heard a croak. This time he did scream, as he shook his head frantically.

"That's it! I'm going back, I'm going back." Draco shouted crossly. "Which way to the beach, I'm going back where arachnids and amphibians aren't trying to assassinate me!" He was not amused by how Hermione and Ginny burst into laughter at his tantrum.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm sorry." Hermione apologised through tears of laughter. "We'll get back on course now, I promise."

Draco frowned, but continued to follow the two girls through the undergrowth, wishing he could have stayed on the beach with Steve. Little did he know, things weren't looking good for them over there either...

* * *

Up until around an hour and a half after the Captain, the Quatermaster, and Draco had left, Steve, Lei and some of the other pirates were having a whale of the time, competing with each other to see how many fish they could catch. But everything went wrong when Lei suggested they explore the rock formation to the left of the beach. He wanted to see if there were any rock pools on the other side of the large rocks, and, with the idea of boiled crab in their heads and bellies, the pirates dropped their rods on the sand to climb over the sandy, crumbly rocks.

The other side of the beach wasn't a beach at all, but a bay that curved far more inland than the beach Spew had breached. It did have rock pools dotted near the shoreline, but that wasn't what they noticed first. Hidden from view by the rocks, a large ship, bearing three masts, bobbed along with the tide, steaming with activity. Breath came short as Steve crawled across the rocks to look at the name of the ship. Everybody watched him silently as his eyes widened. He ran back to them, his mouth opening and shutting, but no words coming out.

"What is it Steve?" They hissed, getting more worried by the second. "What ship is it? Whose is it?"

"T-The Diary." Steve gasped. "It's one of Voldemort's ships. 'Is people're 'ere too! An' we have no way of tellin' the Captain!"

* * *

"Hey, Hermione?" Ginny asked, glancing at Draco before turning to face her friend.

"Yes?" Hermione looked back briefly before cutting a vine in her way. She wiped her brow on her sleeve.

"I was thinking that... maybe Malfoy was right. We should be heading back now."

"What?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowing. They hadn't been in the jungle for long, she was sure, and Ginny loved adventuring! Why would they want to go back, especially since they hadn't found what they'd come for yet?

"What?" Draco repeated, wondering why Ginny was siding with him for once. He wouldn't reject her offer to leave, however- his feet were aching, his legs were numb, he had several bites from bugs that he was sure were poisonous, and he was probably dying from heatstroke. Not to mention he was hungry and thirsty.

"Well, I'm just saying," Ginny continued, avoiding Hermione's questioning look, "that we have been walking for a very long time, we don't know whether it's night or day because the canopy is so thick. Everybody could be worried about us, we told them that we didn't think we'd be too long."

"I see your reasoning, but we're so close to finding out what the map was leading us to, I just know it..."

"Well, actually, you don't." Ginny said quickly, cutting Hermione off with a judgemental look. "That map shows you the way to this island, not what's on it. The map says nothing about where on the island it's treasure is, if there is any treasure!"

"What are you saying, Ginny?"

"I'm saying I don't think there is anything here. I think that it's just a ruse, a joke, a prank or something- I should recognise pranks, I grew up with Fred and George, remember?"

"Well, if the map was pointless, why would Voldemort want it?" Hermione replied in the same shrill tone Draco had heard her speak in when they'd first met. Yep. It still grated on his nerves.

"Maybe he doesn't realise it's worthless yet, or maybe he set us up! Made it look like the map was 'oh-so-important' so that we would become interested in it, so that he could lay a trap for us or something! I don't know! But what I do know, is that this is probably a colossal waste of time and we should leave." Ginny stamped her foot, splashing a mud puddle beneath her feet. Some of the water got onto Draco's shoes, and he winced.

"Or maybe there is something here! Maybe there are two maps, did you think of that? One showing the general area of the island, and one that shows where the treasure is on the island-"

"That's stupid, why not put it on one map?"

"I don't know, as a test maybe? To keep the treasure safe? If you want something to stay a secret, then you don't put all the information on one map!"

"That's a lot of work for some measly treasure!"

"Maybe it is, let's just find the damn thing, then we'll find out whether the time we've spent hunting it down is worth it!"

"Hermione, my feet hurt, I am hungry and tired, and I have a gut feeling it's going to rain soon; we'll be soaked." Ginny said, her jaw clenching. "We can come back later, with more of the crew, do a full comb of the forest. But let's go back, and get some rest. We aren't prepared enough for this."

"You might not be, but I've been studying this map for days. I'm ready to find out what I've been hunting down, and we're doing it now."

"We should go back."

"I won't go back!"

"Look at Malfoy, he's going to keel over at any moment!" Ginny almost yelled, flinging her hand to point at the blond. Draco flinched, then grinned nervously. In his opinion, two people with guns arguing would not lead to anything good. "We all need a rest Hermione, we can't keep frog-marching on like this!"

"Yes we can!"

"No we can't! We're at our limit!"

"We are not at our limit. He's at his limit," Hermione jerked her head at Draco, who had decided to wipe down a section of roots at sit down. He figured that he could have a rest, it wasn't like they'd be moving on soon, at least. "But only because he's never walked this far before, because he isn't used to this. You are, Ginny, so woman up!"

"Yes, I'm used to walking long distances, and in the heat, but not like this. You're pushing us too far, Hermione! We need a break!"

"We do not!"

"Yes we do!"

"Well, if you're so adamant that this is pointless, maybe you should just go back to the boat!"

"Well, if you're not going to listen to what I have to say, maybe I should just leave all together!"

"Maybe you should!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"I'll go then."

"Okay with me! Just leave!" Hermione glared at her friend. "But Mr. Malfoy and I will be finding that treasure. Come on, Malfoy." She stalked over to him and yanked him up by his collar.

"Wha-what?" Draco _stuttered,_ having not fully following the conversation turned argument.

"We're going to find that treasure."

"But I'm tired too..."

"Oh! So you want to go with Ginny, do you?" Hermione snapped, pulling him away from the direction Ginny was heading. "You want to give up like her?"

"Well, it's not really giving up? I mean, she's all for coming back tomorr..." Draco trailed off as the angry brunette shot him a heated glare.

"But we're here today! What's wrong with you, Malfoy? Just the other day you were complaining about how boring I was, because I didn't hunt down treasure, but now that I am, we are, you want to turn back? Are you a coward, or something?"

"H-hey!" Draco pulled his hand out of her tight grip. "I thought you thought through things before you did them. How can two people possibly explore an entire jungle before collapsing from exhaustion?"

Hermione flinched, her expression hurt, though Draco wasn't sure what part of his statements were offensive. "Well, if that's how you feel." She said in a barely level voice. "If that's what you think, you can follow Ginny. I can do this on my own."

"Wait... hang on a second..." Draco called, as she ran off. "Granger! For God's sake..." Draco was suddenly, painfully aware that he was alone filled with bugs at least, at worst... he gulped. He could feel the eyes of a thousand hungry animals staring at him from all directions and legs and feelers of insects crawling on and up every inch of his body and _oh my God was that a tiger growling behind me?_ "G-Granger? Come back, I've changed my mind, I'll come with you... Come back!"

**A/N: Hello people! Sorry this one is late, I had stuff to do. I might not update on Friday this week either, because my aunt has a foreign exchange student with her and I have to do stuff with them... But if I am able to get the next one out, then hey, you get two chapters in one week!**

**This chapter is made up of a really small chapter, and a section of the next chapter. I had to rethink my splitting because this one was so short in comparison to the next one (which is already written, and just needs editing! Who wants to encourage me into doing it through a couple of words on how many mistakes they can pick up on in this one *wink wink nudge nudge*)**

**Please Review!**

**~Comix**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: In Which Draco gets his first glimpse of Voldemort's followers

**Warning: This chapter contains a character death- don't worry, it's nobody you know, this chapter is the first (and last) time they appear, but their death is described in detail. My friend identified it as a 6.5/10 on a scale of graphicness. Just so you're warned...**

**Happy readings!**

**~Comix**

Ginny grumbled to herself as she emerged onto the beach, blinking as her eyes were assaulted with day-light. The nerve of Hermione! Ever since she'd found that map, she'd been obsessed with it- wouldn't listen to reason. Ginny had thought that Hermione had calmed down after their visit to the Flamels... but it looked like she didn't know her friend as well as she thought she had. Well, either way, Ginny had had enough of Hermione's attitude. If Hermione didn't value Ginny's opinion as her First Mate, then Hermione didn't deserve Ginny as her First Mate.

That was when Ginny made her first bad decision of the day.

She decided to take one of the rowboats they'd brought to the island and row home. Never mind that the island she called home was a two week sail away on a ship, and she didn't have any water or food. That didn't matter at the moment. Ginny had had enough, and wasn't waiting long enough for Hermione to try and stop her from leaving.

"Carlos!" Ginny barked, jolting a lazy sailor out of their slumber under the shelter they'd set up. She briefly wondered why they were one of the only ones there, but was too angry to think deeply into it. "When Hermione finally comes back from her demented search for that stupid, imaginary treasure, tell her that I've had enough, and that I'm taking a boat and going home." Carlos blinked slowly, and gave her a flimsy thumbs-up. "Also, tell her that she's a bastard with a one-track mind who has no care what-so-ever for her crew, and that I couldn't care less if she was stabbed through with a spear! Okay! I'm leaving!" A nod from the sleepy sailor was all it took, and then Ginny was pushing a rowboat off the beach, climbing in, grabbing the oars, and leaving. "Oh!" She yelled over her shoulder. "And her chocolate has always been disgusting!"

* * *

After around five minutes of being alone in the jungle, Draco tore through the undergrowth Hermione had disappeared into, screaming her name at the top of his lungs.

"Granger! Granger! Granger!"

"Mr. Malfoy." Draco yelped- Hermione was stood seconds away from him, hands on her hips. "Why are you screaming bloody murder? Anybody would think you were being chased by Voldemort himself!"

"I- you- well- you left me alone back there!" Draco tried to explain, bending over as he tried to catch his breath.

"You were scared of being alone?" Hermione sounded as though she couldn't believe it.

"N-no!" Draco snapped defensively. "But- wait- yes! I had every reason to be terrified since I have no way to defend myself! What if something had attacked me?"

"Oh." Hermione's hands fell to her sides, her face clouded in thought. "Yes... I... I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I was angry at Ginny, not you, and in my anger I forgot my duty to protect you. I... we'll have to get you something you can defend yourself with soon..."

Draco asked, "Could we go back now? We can always come back tomorrow, and I really am exhausted."

Silence filled the jungle as Hermione stood there, lips pursed as she thought through what Draco was saying. On one hand, he was probably right: they might not be able to find the treasure today, and she was getting tired as well. But she couldn't shake the feeling that they were standing seconds away from a life-changing discovery. How could Hermione just turn back after coming so far, and being so close?

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but yelled instead when the silence was broken by a loud clap of thunder. She jumped backwards instinctively, away from the noise that startled her; but her feet didn't connect with the ground. She gave another shout as she fell down a hole neither of them had seen, that had been hidden under the ferns.

"Granger!" Draco lunged forward to catch her, but she'd already disappeared by the time his hands reached where she had been. He stood awkwardly at the top of the hole she'd fallen down as rain began to filter in from the canopy. "Uh... Granger? You alive down there?"

A groan, and a string of curses floated up from the hole. "I think I've sprained my ankle... shit."

"Uh..." Draco looked around nervously, not sure what he should do in this situation. "What should I do?"

"Wait there, it's pretty big down here, I'm sure there's another way... Malfoy! Get down here!" Hermione suddenly yelled, her tone excited. "Didn't I tell you we were close? Oh my God, get down here now!"

Hoping for the best, he followed her orders.

* * *

The rain was only serving to make Ginny more miserable. It wasn't enough that she was hungry, thirsty and tired, but now she was soaking wet as well! And even though it only seemed to be a little thunder storm, probably caused by the hot weather they were having, Ginny knew you should never trust the sea. This little squall could easily turn into a tempest.

As she made her way further into the open waters, Ginny decided to take one last look back at the island her best friend was still on. Half of her hoped to see Hermione waving her hands on the beach, yelling her name, shouting for Ginny to come back, because Ginny had been right all along, and begging for her forgiveness.

But that wasn't what she saw.

Instead, like Steve and his friends, she saw a large pirate ship floating ominously in a bay surrounded by rocks. A black flag that was emblazoned with a snake emerging, twisted around a skull, flew against the stormy grey sky.

"The Dark Mark..." Ginny breathed. "Voldemort?" Fear gripped her chest as she thought of Hermione, stumbling around in the forest, unaware of the threat that was lurking past the trees. And the only person there to help her was Malfoy, the kid who couldn't even tie a knot... the two of them helpless, ignorant and vulnerable, all because Ginny had gotten angry and left.

What if Hermione had been right? What if there had been two maps? It would take longer, but just having a map of this one island would be enough to find it... And whichever ship that was (from the number of masts it could have been The Diary, The Ring or even The Death Eater itself) must have the first map. And by now they most likely knew that Hermione had the second map. They could know that Hermione was there as well. They could be planning to ambush her. Ginny's eyes widened. _God, they could kill her!_

That was when Ginny made her second bad decision of the day.

She dropped the oars she was holding. She stood up, making the boat rock perilously, and she dived into the ocean, beginning to swim for shore. It would be difficult, but she had to find Hermione before Voldemort's followers did. She had to make sure Hermione was safe... even if she didn't care about what Ginny thought. Because Hermione was her friend.

* * *

When Draco hit the sandy floor at the bottom of the hole, Hermione was nowhere to be found. Softly, he called out her name, looking around at the ink-black rocks that formed the walls of the hole.

"I'm over here, Mr. Malfoy!" Hermione called back, from a gap between the rocks. Draco slid between them easily, and his mouth dropped open at what he saw.

Light filtered down from cracks in the earth above them, rain dripping down methodically. The raindrops rippled the smooth, clear, shallow layer of water that rested below Hermione and Draco's feet. The water acted as though it was a mirror, reflecting the beauty of the cavern that the two found themselves in.

Every inch of the wall was covered in what looked like golden words written in the same scrawl as the map, that seemed to glow, filling the room with even more light, and making it seem... magical. As well as words, there were pictures, too, in every colour of the rainbow. Dolphins, and whales, and sharks, in all manners of blue and silver, swam around the room. Trees as tall as mountains curved along the roof of the cave. The whole place seemed ancient, and yet the pictures gleamed as though they had only just been painted there, as if the paint still had to set. Gingerly, Draco reached out and touched the long tail of a mermaid, whose amethyst-coloured scales shimmered. The cave wall was wet, but the paint was dry. In fact, it was if the colours of the cave were formed alongside it: the pictures seemed set into the stone, not painted on to it. "Granger, this is..."

"Amazing, isn't it?" Hermione couldn't keep the admiration out of her voice. She'd gotten her map out, and was scribbling something down on it's blank side. "This must be what the map was referring to."

"But..." Draco looked around. Aside from the two of them, the cavern was empty. "There isn't any treasure here."

"Knowledge, Mr. Malfoy, is the greatest treasure in the world." Hermione replied breathlessly. "I could spend my entire life in this cavern, just taking in all the information that's in here." Finishing her notes, she hurried over to the wall, stroking the painting of a small ship with black sails. "The paint looks so fresh, but this has to be over a century old! And the colour of these sails... it's like I'm looking into death itself!"

"Why do you think it's here? What's the point of all these drawings?" Draco asked, wondering what Hermione had written down.

"I don't know." Hermione said. "It's... too much! Look, there's the way out, we'll make our way back to the ship, and then tomorrow we can come back. We'll bring a lot of paper, some pencils, we'll write down all the information! This is so cool!" Her eyes scrunched up as she giggled. "I mean, just look at it! Look! This animal here-" She pointed to some kind of bird just above Draco's head. "It's extinct, I'm sure. But even though it's just a picture, it looks like it's about to take flight! So realistic... And that mural of the sea, the way the..."

"Granger, quiet!" Draco hissed, bringing his finger to his lips. She narrowed her eyes at him, opening her mouth to protest, but he shook his head and pointed to the mouth of the cavern. Voices echoed from it, laughs and yells. The Captain's eyes widened, and she jumped to where they'd come through, dragging Draco with her. The small, round enclosure was well-lit from the hole above, and rain dropped onto their heads once more, but it was concealed from the rest of the cave, and there was enough of a gap for both Hermione and Draco to peer through, and see who else had found the cave.

_Please let it be Steve, please let it be one of my crew,_ Hermione pleaded to herself. _Please, please, plea- oh God damn it._

A group of five men, dressed completely in black and holding torches high in their hands, swaggered into the room. From their belts swung the sharp, thick blades of swords and axes, and the silver glints of hidden guns. Two of them gripped a young boy, bedraggled and terrified. Every part of his bronze body that wasn't clothed was covered in large bruises and small cuts. They were too far away to see him properly, but Draco was sure the boy was crying.

The group was led by a woman taller than anyone Draco had ever seen. Her skin was as black as night, and covered in long, pinkish scars. Her lips were twisted in a permanent scowl, her dark brown hair braided around a thick rope. Similar weapons to the rest of her crew hung from a green sash around her waist, and she was dressed similarly to her crew as well. In her hand she gripped a long staff, in the shape of a snake. Its eyes burnt as though they were on fire, yet the stick didn't smoulder. Was it some kind of magic that made the eyes do that? Draco wondered. The cavern had already convinced him that magic could exist. With every step the great woman took, she pounded the staff into the ground in front of her. It made a loud, echoing bang with every pound, despite the soft terrain it landed in. When the woman reached the centre of the room, she suddenly turned her head to the place Hermione and Draco were hiding in. The two shrank back against the rock, even though they knew she couldn't see them. As soon as she had turned, she turned away, but Draco couldn't shake the feeling she'd known they were there. And her eyes... they were bright yellow, the colour of the sun, but there had been something foggy... something unfocused about them...

The men stood slightly away from her, looking about the room with wide eyes. Even the boy seemed to forget the danger he was in, basking in the beauty of the cavern. The woman was the only one who seemed unimpressed by the shining pictures.

"The room," she spoke in a dreadfully cold, hissing voice, in a tone of such malice and power that Draco felt like sitting down. "Describe it to me."

All the men jumped, and one spoke up. "It's... it's large, and it's made of black rock, a-and..."

"I know that, you idiot. I can gather how large the room is, what it's made of, the sand and water beneath my feet, every inch of the rock I can sense... What I want to know is, what is on the rocks that is making you all so excited?" There was a bite to her voice that made everybody who heard her wince.

Another man spoke, his voice nasally. "Ah, the walls are covered with... with paintings and writing, ma'am."

"Paintings... What of?" Now she sounded slightly interested. "Is there a ship? A ship with black sails?"

"Yes, yes there's a pretty big picture of a ship with black sails."

"I knew it... What is around the ship? A map?"

"N..No. There's a bit of writing, but... it's in some foreign language." The man yelped as a knife whizzed past his ear.

"Of course it is, you idiot!" She woman snapped, her next words laced with sarcasm. "What, did you think that a bunch of colonialists decided to stop by and randomly cover a cave in art? These are the directions we need to find the Chamber of Secrets."

"I thought the maps were...?"

"No, the maps led us here. They were a test. Even more so since Malfoy's idiotic crew went and burnt down their ship." The woman closed her eyes and exhaled, as if she were trying to control herself. "That's why we brought the boy. Have him say the directions out loud. I can translate it from there."

There was a bit of a scuffle as the men tried to command the boy to read the writing beneath the ship- coincidentally, Hermione noted, it was the same writing that she had written down earlier. She'd known it would be important. The child didn't understand English, and even after the men had managed to somehow get the message through, the boy just shook his head, repeating the same words over and over. He yelped when one of the sailors moved around and held a cutlass to his chest.

"Speak, ya little rat, or I'll run ya through." The man growled, and surprisingly the boy understood, and nodded.

His tiny, shaking voice barely filled the cavern as he stammered through reading the text on the walls. Draco felt sorry for him, not even able to comprehend the fear the child must have been feeling. As the boy recited the words, the woman nodded, lips curved in a twisted smile. "Yes," she would murmur, "that's right... And so..."

Once he'd finished reading, the boy looked at the surrounding pirates hopefully, thinking they would let him go. But the woman had no intention of letting him live.

Stuffing his fist into his mouth to stop himself from screaming, Draco watched in horror as the woman pulled a gun out of its holster as fast as lightning and pulled the trigger. He closed his eyes tightly as he heard the gun go off, barely masked by a clap of thunder from the squall still happening outside. The boy didn't yell out, he just made a slight choking sound and a thud as he fell to the floor. Draco wanted to throw up.

"Did I hit him?"

"Yes, ma'am. Right in the neck. Blood's everywhere."

"Damn. I was aiming for the head. I'll have to work on my aim." Draco still didn't open his eyes as he heard the shuffling of the pirates leaving the cave. "Right, it's back to the ship, then onward to the Chamber of Secrets! The Dark Pirate Lord will be glad to hear of our accomplishments!" Cries of triumph and laughter echoed the bloodthirsty captain's departure.

Draco didn't move, didn't look, as he heard Hermione's feet running to the boy who lay dying, maybe already dead in the water. He registered that her voice was talking to the boy, but didn't hear what she said, speaking in hushed tones of encouragement and sympathy to a body beyond all hope, the only response Draco could hear being choking, gasping pants from a throat unable to breathe.

Draco's body went numb as it suddenly realised the danger he was in, the violence that would be surrounding him, the deaths he would have to experience for every minute he stayed on board Hermione's ship, or any other pirate ship, for that matter. He wanted to go home, God, he wanted to go home.

"… Malfoy? Mr. Malfoy!" Draco opened his eyes and looked over at Hermione, who was calling to him from beside the boy. Blood had seeped into the water on the floor that surrounded her, tainting it red. Draco couldn't see from his view, but he was sure the child's chest, neck, and head were stained with the same red hue. Hermione must have been touching the boy at some point; her hands were covered with blood as well. Draco bent over and retched. "Mr. Malfoy, are you okay?"

Draco threw up again. "… He's dead, isn't he? The little boy?" Draco's voice was hoarse, and it pained his throat to speak.

"Yes." Hermione's voice was empty of emotion. "She hit an artery, he died almost instantly."

"Why did she kill him?" Draco asked. "She didn't have to kill him, he did as she asked!"

"Probably didn't want anybody to know about this place, or that they were here." Hermione said. She shook her head. "If they're here, on this island, then we're in danger. The crew aren't prepared for a fight. We need to get back to the beach, get back onto the boat, and get the fuck out of here." She knelt, pushing her hands under the boys' dead body: one cradling his neck, the other a firm grasp under his knees.

"What are you doing?"

"We're taking him back to the beach. I couldn't help him... the least I can do is bury his body." Hermione replied, and though her eyes were aimed at Draco, she looked straight past him.

* * *

"What are we going to do, Steve?" One of the pirates who had gone with Steve and Lei over the rocks fretted, tugging at their ear.

"I dunno? What d'we do, Lei?" Steve asked, turning on the boy who had suggested they go in the first place.

"We need to keep calm." Lei said, taking several deep breaths. "There's no way of telling the Captain, so we should just go back to where we left Carlos and the others, and wait for Ginny, Hermione, and Draco to get back. As soon as they get back, we can tell them what we've seen, and then Hermione will know what to do."

"But what if they find the Captain? What if they ambush them?" Another of pirates whined.

"We have no way of preventing that. We just need to... hope for the best." Lei said, leading the group back over the rocks.

When they got there, they noticed that one of the two boats they'd used to get to shore was missing. Instantly, they panicked, doing a head count of the people on the beach.

"What happened?" Steve asked one of the pirates, who were playing some form of poker.

"Ginny had an argument with Hermione again." They explained. "She took the boat and is going home."

"I bet five silver pieces she went back to the ship." Said one of the poker playing pirates.

"I bet six she comes back to the beach before we leave." Said the person sitting next to him.

"Oh my God." Moaned Steve, looking back at his group of friends. "Did you 'ear that? Tha' means Miss 'ermione is on her own. With Draco Dragon. Who can't even lift a sword!"

"Don't worry," Lei reassured his friend, "I'm sure the Captain can look after herself. We've got nothing to be worried about. Look, even the sky is showing us that everything will be alright!" The boy pointed up to the sky, as the clouds parted and the sun shone through.

"It's the Captain!" Somebody yelled suddenly, making Lei and Steve spin around (getting sand on the poker players cards in the process, the men yelling in protest). "She's got somebody... they're covered in blood!"

"Draco Dragon!" Steve gasped as he and the others ran to the figures emerging from the forest. Steve breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Draco stumbling out of the forest behind Hermione, looking ill, but otherwise fine. The bloody body Hermione held in her hands was one that Steve didn't recognise, but his heart broke when he saw how young the victim was. "Cap'n, what happened?"

"Basil Izk is on the island." Hermione replied, turning to another sailor and ordering them to fetch her a shovel. "She was looking for the same thing we were. We found it first, and then we hid when she came into the cavern. There was writing on the walls, she had this boy read it, and shot him once she learnt what it said." When the sailor returned with an old, rusty shovel, Hermione carefully deposited the dead child into Steve's arms and set about building the boys grave.

Steve looked down at the boy, holding back a sob. The child's bright blue eyes were wide open, still filled with the terror of seeing a gun aimed at him. His mouth was open, blood spread around his lips, cheeks, and jaw like the juice of a berry. The bullet wound was almost in the centre of his neck, blood drying around it and making the hole seem too big. Everything about him was too small... too young...

"Mr. Malfoy, fetch me a rock to use to mark his grave." Hermione ordered as Steve lowered the boy into the hole. As she began to pour the sand over the boy, she whispered, "I'm sorry. You deserved so much more than to die in this way." She had just poured the last of the sand over where the body lay when Draco rolled over a rock, which they positioned just behind where his head lay. Everybody looked down at their feet as they stood in silence, honouring the small boys passing.

After a minute of silence that felt like an eternity, Hermione broke it by raising her head, and saying, "We should leave before they find us here. Where's Ginny?"

"She left a message with me, Captain," Carlos replied. "She said that she's had enough and she's taking a boat and going home, and that you're a bastard with a one-track mind who has no care what-so-ever for your crew, and that she wouldn't care if you were... I think the phrase was 'stabbed through with a spear'... and that she doesn't like your chocolate. No offense, Captain." They added as an afterthought.

Hermione inhaled sharply. "Oh. Well... If that's the way she feels, I suppose there's no point in looking for her. Ready the boat, we leave immediately."

As the sailors hurried about pushing the small rowing boat to sea, nobody noticed the damp set of footprints that headed back into the jungle, away from them and towards the crew of The Diary...

* * *

"Hermione!" Ginny yelled as she stumbled through the jungle. "Hermione where are you?" She should never have left the pair. God, Ginny felt like a fool. Hermione could be bleeding to death, Malfoy wouldn't be able to help her, he'd probably already be dead, what had Ginny been thinking? "Hermione!" Her voice portrayed her desperation. She thundered through the jungle, pushing back trees and crushing several beetles under her toes. Parrots flew away, squawking in shock as Ginny flew past, screaming her friends name. "Hermione! Hermione! Hermione!"

She reached the part of the jungle they'd argued in, and turned in a full circle, looking, watching, searching for a glimpse of brown anywhere, or Malfoy's blond hair, which would certainly stand out in the forest. "Hermione! Hermione!" Ginny took a step backwards, and another, and another, and...

Ginny gasped as she bumped into something, something that definitely wasn't a tree. A hand grabbed her as she spun around, and found herself face-to-face... or rather, face-to-stomach... with one of the last people she'd ever want to meet alone in a jungle. Ginny gulped, looking up into the yellow eyes of one of Voldemort's most trusted followers, Basil Izk, who was holding Ginny's shoulder so tightly that it felt as though it would break off.

"Who is this?" The tall, cold Captain asked, though it sounded more like a command to Ginny. "Identify yourself."

Ginny hesitated, thinking that if she was quiet then perhaps the fearsome pirate would think she was a tree or something. Deep down Ginny knew it wouldn't work, but it was her last hope. She cursed when, quick as a whip, the woman drew her gun out of its holster and shoved it against Ginny's head, the barrel pressing into Ginny's skin. Ginny's skin turned ice cold as she realised the gun was still warm. Her mind raced at the thought of who the gun could have shot. "Identify yourself, or I will not hesitate to blast your brains out."

"My name is Ginevra Weasley." Ginny answered, in the most confident voice she could muster with a gun against her head. Basil gave a curt nod, and moved the gun from her temple. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as she did that, Basil turned the gun around and hit Ginny on the head with its handle. Before Ginny could register what was happening, everything around her disappeared and she slipped into unconsciousness.

**A/N: Cliffhanger~! I'd apologise, but I really like the way the plot is turning out! When I first started planning this fic, the island and Ginny getting kidnapped by Basil Izk were completely ****separate! (Of course, when I first started planning this fic, Basil Izk was a guy, so...)**

**Either way, here is the new chapter! I promised you guys I'd try to keep to the updating schedule, even if I am doing social stuff (I'm shivering just thinking about it tbh). Send me a note, tell me what you think... Hey! I even have something in particular you guys can talk about in your review! So, as you just read, Ginny's gotten kidnapped by Basil Izk. Something I came up with while I was writing the scene where Basil shoots that minor character was that maybe I could kill Ginny off during this plot point. Honestly, I'm torn over it, because I really like the idea, but I'm also worried about how that may affect the story. So would you guys like to help me decide? Send in a review, telling me whether you think Basil should kill Ginny or not!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: In which Draco meets Harry and Ron (and several other people as well)

Hermione was just about to sit down when Draco burst into her quarters, looking mildly frustrated."I have answers Granger." He announced, standing in front of her and crossing his arms.

"You mean questions?" Hermione said, standing back up and walking to the cupboard to fetch two cups. "Would you like some tea?"

"Um, sure..." Draco said awkwardly, sitting down. "And... what?"

"You have questions." The Captain elaborated, pouring some tea into the cups and carrying them over to the table.

"Yes, I have questions, and you're going to answer them right now!" Draco demanded, his irritation betrayed by the polite way he sipped his tea. Hermione inclined her head, waiting for him to ask the first question. "Okay, so first off, why did you and Weasley have such a big argument? I thought you were getting along well!"

Hermione sighed. "I guess it was kind of my fault. I'll admit that I may have become slightly obsessed by this map. Ginny had to do my duties because I was too focused on the map to do them myself... She didn't like that, nobody would. But then, after we visited the Flamels, I helped around the ship- you saw me help around the ship! And I guess we sort of made up, but not fully. And then, when we were on that island, I was ignorant of your feelings- yours, and Ginny's. I guess that was the final straw for her." The Captain laughed awkwardly. "Still, she had no right to say those things to Carlos. Just because I got a little carried away doesn't mean I don't care about my crew! So, it's not just me who's going to have to apologise when we get there."

"Um, get where?" Draco asked, stirring his tea with a spoon.

"Well, Ginny said she was going home. So, theoretically, that's where she should be!" Hermione paused to sip her tea. "We're going to have to go there if the two of us are going to make up." Draco nodded, agreeing with Hermione's thought process. "Oh, and the island she's from has a medium sized port. You could find a boat to take you home." Draco was elated at the sound of such good news. Hermione caught his smile and rolled her eyes good humouredly. "Did you have any other questions, or was that it?"

"Uh, no, I did have one more... Who was that woman in the cave? The one who shot the little boy? You said her name was... Bass Lisk?"

Hermione looked away from him, frowning. "Her name is Basil Izk. She's one of Voldemort's most loyal followers. She's been fighting alongside him, or for him, since he boarded his first ship. And once, she fought Dumbledore. During the fight his parrot, Fawkes, flew down and scratched at her face, now she's completely blind. At least, I think she is. When we were in the caves, she couldn't see the paintings, could she?"

"But Granger, when she walked into the cave, I could have sworn she looked right at us." Draco shivered, remembering the piercing gaze that had left him petrified.

"I thought so too. But she is blind. And we were hidden." Hermione said, sounding like she was trying more to convince herself than convince Draco. "Now, if that's everything, Mr. Malfoy, both you and I have jobs to do." Finishing her tea in a great gulp, Hermione stood up and held the door open for Draco to leave in front of her. Swallowing his drink as well, he walked out into the sweltering sunshine. Inside, however, his body felt frozen.

* * *

After two weeks of uneventful sailing, Draco was glad to see land again. They approached the island the Weasley's lived on from the south, where the waves splashed against steep, grey cliffs. As they passed, Draco could have sworn he saw a narrow hole in one, but a second later the cliffs looked like any other. He looked over, briefly, to Hermione, to see if she'd noticed, but if she had she didn't let on. Slowly, as they went around the island, the sea began to recede from the cliffs and make way for a slightly rocky beach, tinted green from the amount of seaweed that had washed up onto it.

And then the town came into view.

It wound itself up the mountainside, at the top of the mountain only hints of houses could be seen amongst the tall trees, but as you got nearer to the beach, and the docks, and the sea, the trees thinned out and it became a forest of buildings. A dusty pathway that disappeared around different buildings snaked its way down towards where the water lapped at the rocks and the wooden boards of the docks shot out towards the horizon. It wasn't as big as Wickwitt's docks, but Draco figured it was a decent sized dock either way. Small fishing boats floated by the docks like leaves from a stalk, connected by small, fraying pieces of rope. There were larger ships as well, with two or three masts each, whose white sails fluttered in the sea breeze.

"Harry and Ron're here!" Hermione laughed, pointing to a dark brown ship with polished railings. "I'll bet they're at The Burrow... Oh! And... is that Hogwarts? It has to be, there's no ship bigger than Hogwarts I've ever seen." She grinned at Draco. "This is wonderful, he can help me translate what it said in the cavern!"

"Um... who?" Draco asked, a bit lost.

"Dumbledore. He captains Hogwarts." Hermione explained.

"Oh, right." Draco nodded. "But, don't forget why you're really here."

"I'm here to find Ginny and apologise, I know, I know." Hermione blinked, as though she'd had a good idea. "Here, Mr. Malfoy, why don't you come with me to The Burrow? It's not too far from the docks, and I'm sure Molly will adore you!"

"Sure, okay. It's not like I can't leave once I go there, right?" Draco laughed. The idea of going home soon had gotten him in a good mood. Soon he'd be on a ship bound for Wickwitt, and then he'd be home, and his parents would be begging for forgiveness and he would never have to step foot on a boat again!

"Exactly." Hermione said. She clapped him on the back in a friendly manner, and went to help prepare the ship for docking.

* * *

It felt kind of weird to be in civilisation again. Draco had spent around a month away from large amounts of people, so he felt a little nervous in the crowds of people that swarmed about the docks like bees in a hive. The town smelt of salt, fish, and the spices of cooking food, and the air was alive with noises: shop keepers announcing their wares, people talking, gossiping, joking with each other, and children yelling and screaming as they played in the street. Draco almost tripped over several children as they darted out of the crowds and between his legs in some game of tag, or hide-and-seek.

S.P.E.W's crew had split up upon touching the cobblestones of the town, off to do what they wanted with the silver in their pockets and a whole town of fun. Draco noticed that many of them were heading in a single direction- the direction Hermione and he were going in as well.

"Where is everybody going?" Draco asked, jogging a little to keep up with Hermione. They seemed to be heading towards the cliffs, though they were still inside town.

"To The Burrow, of course." Hermione said, not slowing her pace. "It's a great place to relax, it has a lovely atmosphere, as well as wonderful food and drink!"

"It's a tavern?"

"How did you think the Weasley's lived? You do know people have to work for a living, don't you?" Hermione teased, looking back at him briefly with a playful glint in her eyes. Draco spluttered, trying to come up with a come-back, but the words caught in his mouth when they walked around a mucky pig sty and Hermione pointed in front of them, saying "There it is, The Burrow Inn."

The building (if you could call it that) was two-storeys tall, and quite large, for a poor persons house. But the first thing that really hit home about it was how lopsided it seemed, as though the whole house was bending over in the wind, or as though it was an old man exhausted after a long run. Wooden beams seemed wobbly and misshapen, the roof seemed to sag, and there were several grey tiles missing from the roof. Yet there was smoke rising from the zig-zagging chimney, and behind every window was a glowing light that promised warmth in every sense of the word. The smell of cooking fish and roasting vegetables, and something sweet, musky and old, wafted through the partially open front door, and the sound of happy people also came from within. Above the sloping doorframe, a piece of wood hung from black, rusty chain. Upon it's surface, a furry red-and-white animal with mischievous eyes poked it's long neck out of a hole surrounded by tufts of soft, green grass. Beneath the illustration were the words 'The Burrow Inn in slanting script. Though Draco was slightly concerned about whether the whole place would collapse with him underneath it, overall he got a comforting feeling from it, the same sort of feeling you get from crawling under a blanket during a cold, winter night. A feeling of a home away from home.

Inside was just as comforting. The ground floor consisted mostly of one room, curtains acting as a barrier that hid the kitchen. Behind the gentle swish of the curtains came a satisfying heat, and the promise of delicious food. As soon as Draco and Hermione walked through the door, they were surrounded by small, round tables and mismatched chairs. People of all shapes and sizes sat upon the chairs, clinking glasses, wolfing down plates of delicious looking (and smelling) food, laughing and listening to others stories, and generally having a good time. Hermione searched the room, and waved at two boys she saw sat near the curtains. They waved her over, but she shook her head, pointing towards a different table, where two other people sat. Hermione dragged Draco over there.

"Those two I just waved to are Harry and Ron! I'll introduce you to them once I've talked to Dumbledore!" Hermione shouted over the noise- it was difficult to be heard in the racket.

Draco nodded briefly, turning his attention to the two people they were approaching, a man and a woman, both quite old. The woman looked up as they got nearer the table, and offered the pair a warm, but stern smile. Her black hair was wrapped back in a tight bun, which made her forehead look larger than it really was, and the glasses that lay on her nose magnified her green eyes that shone with intelligence. When her eyebrows moved, the wrinkled above them mimicked the movement, enhancing every expression she made as she finished telling her story to the man sitting next to her.

The man was even older than his friend, looked even older than the Flamels (though Draco thought this would have been impossible), and was rather tall and thin, like a wrinkly white palm tree. His hair, and beard, were long and silvery-white, though they glowed slightly orange in the light of the candles on the wall, as the hair slithered into a pile on the floor by his feet. Tangled in his beard were a pair of glasses, and Draco guessed the man often used his beard as a handy place to store things. Unlike his companion, the old man didn't look up when Hermione and Draco approached; he seemed too interested in the bowl of steaming golden-brown soup that sat in front of him, his long fingers twirling the bowls spoon in his hand thoughtfully. Hermione had to clear her throat when they arrived beside him, to make sure she didn't frighten the old man.

"Dumbledore, sir, I went to help the Flamels like you asked, and they were very happy with my work." Hermione reported, as the way of an ice-breaker. Her voice was laced with admiration and respect and... did Draco sense a hint of fear?

"What about the ship that I asked you to intercept? Did you take what they were delivering and destroy it?" The man looked up from the soup, and Draco barely stifled a gasp when he saw how blue they were, a window into an endless, icy cavern. They shone and twinkled, as well, as though they were stars.

"I did take the map that they had, yes... But then I deciphered it and followed it." Hermione admitted, looking away. The woman tutted and crossed her arms, shaking her head, though the actions seemed to have no malice behind them, and the man laughed, clapping his hands together.

"I thought you might. So, what did you find?"

"A cavern, sir, full of words and pictures," Hermione's eyes began to shine and her voice grew excited as she began to explain the cave she and Draco had found to the pair. Draco, too, found himself smiling as he thought back to the cave. It really had been wonderful, and so beautiful... His breath caught in his throat, however, when the memory of the little boy pushed itself to the front of his mind again. His surroundings dimmed somewhat, and the whole room got colder for a moment. Draco coughed, and remembered the noises that had come from the boys throat as he died. His vision blurred. "...Mr. Malfoy, are you all right? I think you better sit down." Hermione grasped Draco's shoulders and pushed him down into a chair. "Mr. Malfoy? Say something..." Draco muttered something nonsensical in response. "Mr. Malfoy, speak to me, tell me you're alright!"

"I'm fine." Draco eventually mumbled, though it was half-hearted. Hermione sighed, and smiled reassuringly at him.

"Miss Granger, who is this boy?" The woman asked, looking at Draco curiously.

"Oh, of course. McGonagall, this is Draco Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy, this is Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. I saved him when I burnt down that ship you asked me to intercept, Dumbledore. It was an accident, really." Hermione explained, laughing nervously. "I thought he was Colin, because I'd heard Colin calling for help."

"Is Colin okay?" Minerva asked, frowning.

"I... I don't know." Hermione said, her voice raising a couple of octaves. "Oh my God, I don't know! I don't..."

"He's okay." Draco cut her off. "When the box fell on me, he called for help, but when one of the crew arrived they decided that there wasn't time to help me, and took Colin back to the lifeboats." _Leaving me to die,_ he added inside his head resentfully.

"That's a relief." Hermione said. "I can't believe I'd forgotten about him, so much has happened... Anyway, I saved Mr. Malfoy from the ship and now he's staying with me until he can find a boat that can take him home."

"Hermione, you said Basil Izk was interested in a certain part of the wall. Do you think you could describe it to me?" Dumbledore asked, in a pensive tone.

"Oh, actually, I wrote down the words that were there." Hermione said, perking up as she pulled the map out of her pocket. She handed it to Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, my grasp of Nahuatl is rather limited. I was wondering if you might be able to translate it?"

Dumbledore pushed his bowl of soup, now cooler but still just as full as it was when Draco and Hermione had arrived, away from him and spread the map where the bowl had been. He reached into his beard and untangled his glasses from them, sliding them onto his nose. After peering down at the paper, he said. "It would be my pleasure. Were there any pictures around it, or was it just the words?"

"There was a picture of a ship with black sails, sir." Hermione said. "Um, if you don't mind, I'm going to go say hi to Harry and Ron now."

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said, waving her away. Hermione said goodbye to the two old pirates, and offered her hand to Draco, to help him stand up. Draco pushed it away, not wanting to look weak, besides he was feeling a bit better now. There was still the feeling of stones piling up in his stomach, but that wasn't anything to worry about. He walked beside Hermione towards the other table, where her two friends sat.

Both boys were rather tall and thin in appearance, the red-head on the right more gangly than his friend. He looked a bit like Ginny, Draco guessed they were related. Two large, round ears poked out of his fiery, red hair, and his nose was notably long. Every visible inch of his skin was covered in freckles, but otherwise, he looked rather unremarkable. On the other hand, there were a number of noticeable traits about the boy sitting on the left. For starters, his raven-coloured hair was exactly like a blackberry bush, messy and bouncy. His eyes were also rather striking, almond-shaped and vivid green in colour. And, for the most part, his beautiful brown skin looked smooth and soft- he didn't have any spots or freckles at all. However, spread across his forehead, partially obscured by his curly mop of hair, was possibly the most horrific-looking burn scar Draco had ever seen. It spread out from the center of his forehead, light and lumpy, in the shape of a lightning bolt, different strands of lightning reaching for his ears, his scalp, and his chin, but not quite reaching.

Hermione sat down next to the redhead, and Draco sat down next to her. He briefly wondered which one was Harry, and which one was Ron, though he didn't have to wonder for long. "I'm Ron Weasley." The redhead said, extending his hand out for Draco to shake.

"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Draco replied, taking the boys hand and shaking it. He looked over to the person with the scar.

"Oh, I'm Harry Potter." He finally said, rubbing his hair sheepishly. Hermione laughed, and Ron hit him jovially on the back, also chuckling.

"That scar..." Draco blurted, covering his mouth when he realised he'd spoken without thinking.

"What, this?" Harry said, pointing at his forehead. His voice took on a dark tone. "I got this the night Voldemort had my parents killed. He stole my fathers boat, and burnt our house down. Both my parents died in the fire, but somehow I survived. That's why people call me The Boy Who Lived."

"Harry, nobody calls you that." Hermione snored, and Harry frowned at her, looking offended.

"What do you mean nobody calls me that? If they don't call me that, what do they call me?"

"They call you Harry."

"Actually, one bloke called you Scarface that one time." Ron supplied helpfully.

"Scarface?!"

Draco felt kind of awkward, sitting there as the three friends caught up with each other. They laughed at jokes Draco didn't understand, most of them only half finished before the three burst into laughter. He felt as though he'd started reading a sequel before he'd read the first book in the series: it was confusing, and he felt alienated about the whole situation.

"Uh, you guys seem really close." Draco said awkwardly, trying to enter the conversation again.

"Well, that's what happens when you fight a troll together." Ron said, grinning and leaning back in his chair.

"He wasn't a troll, Ron, trolls don't exist." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Um, he was tall, he was ripped, he was bald, his skin was a weird grey-white colour, and his nostrils were fucking huge. He was a troll." Harry said, laughing.

"You... fought a troll?"

"Yeah, see, me and Harry were in this tavern, and this dude bumps in to me, on purpose. So I'm a little bit drunk and I throw a punch at him. But this bloke was a weedy runt, and smart too, I'm betting, and he ducked, and I hit this great big, lumbering guy in the back instead." Ron said, throwing his hands in the air as he explained the story. "And he just turns around, and his eyes are narrowing, and I'm already regretting the situation, like, and he said, he said... hey Harry, what did he say?"

"What's your problem, buddy?" Harry said, mocking the tone in which the 'troll' had spoken in, deep and angry.

"Yeah, yeah, that was it, and before I knew it we were rolling it out right there by the bar. Harry's there to back me up, but we're these two tiny fourteen year olds up against this giant... guy. There's a big circle of drunk blokes surrounding us, cheering him on..."

"Nah, Ron, they were cheering us on."

"Some of them, I guess, but the odds were against us." Ron leant forward, towards Draco. "And then he comes at me, charging at me, and he's got spit hanging out of his mouth and his eyes are real slit-like and I'm like 'oh shit' but then I take a page out of Weedy's book and I dodge him, like I'm one of those bull-fighter people, and he goes running past me and he can't stop and he crashes into the toilets!" Ron leant backwards again to laugh loudly. "There was this moment of silence, like, I couldn't believe we'd beaten him! Or at least, won round one, you know? And then there's this scream..." Ron broke off into laughter, stopping the story in it's tracks. Harry also broke down, while Hermione had a cross expression on her face.

"I still haven't forgiven you for that!" She snapped. "I was in the middle of going to the toilet, when that lumbering doofus crashed in, collapsing at my feet! The door was broken down, every person in that tavern could see my privates!" Harry and Ron laughed louder. "I was mortified!"

"It was... your... face!" Harry gasped between his peals of laughter, tears running down his face. "You looked like you were going to die!"

"Die or kill somebody!" Added Ron. He gave a few deep breaths, trying to compose himself. "And then Hermione just stands up and yanks her trousers back up, and the dude tries to get up, but she just slams him down into the floor with her foot and he looses consciousness..."

"And she looks up at the rest of us and you could feel the anger in her gaze, God, it was like a volcano of rage!"

"And she just says, 'Who did this?'" Ron mimicked in a high falsetto, causing Draco to snort.

"I do not sound like that!" Hermione protested shrilly.

"Anyway, anyway," Ron continued, "the whole bar just, like, disappears, and me and Harry are stood there and she just walks over to us, grabs Harry by the collar and... oh my God, she yelled at us so bad, she gave my mother a run for her money, she was so pissed, we had to buy her, like, three shots of whiskey before she could calm down!"

"But after that, man, we were best buds." Harry finished, shaking his head with a smile. "Not much that can break a friendship after you've seen them taking a piss."

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked, blushing slightly. She put her head in her hands for a couple of minutes, trying to regain her composure. "Well, at least one good thing came out of that fight and I met Ginny."

"And us!" Ron added defensively.

"Ginny!" Hermione looked up sharply. "Of course, I almost forgot. I have to go and apologise to her- we had a fight a couple of weeks back, and she said she was coming here to cool off- Molly!" Hermione called out to a plump, ginger-haired woman who was walking around the large room with plates balanced on her arms.

"Hermione, dear! It's good to see you." The woman, Molly, said, beaming at her. "I'd hug you, but I've got my arms full at the minute. What can I do for you?"

"Is Ginny upstairs? I'm guessing she's moping about in her room- I need to make up with her." Hermione explained.

Molly frowned. "Ginny hasn't come home since the last time you two visited, Hermione. Are you sure she said she'd come here?"

Shock flew across Hermione's face, shortly followed by worry. "Hey, maybe we beat her here?" Draco asked, trying to reassure her.

"But she left before we did... What if somethings happened to her?" Hermione fretted. Draco was just about to say another comforting statement when the door to the inn banged open, and a young girl stood in the doorway, clutching a small piece of paper.

"My papa sent me with a message!" She said, as loudly as she could, though she hardly needed to be loud with how quiet it suddenly became inside the inn. "A message from an unknown sender to the Weasley family?"

A tall man with thinning ginger hair and glasses poking out of his shirt pocket (who Draco thought was probably Ron and Ginny's father) stood up and walked towards the little girl, thanking her when she gave him the note. As soon as it was handed over, she ran away, back home.

"What is it, Arthur?" Molly asked, setting the plates down on the tables they were headed for, as her husband opened up the piece of paper and read it. It didn't take long for him to complete the message, and once he had, he collapsed into a luckily vacant chair, speechless. Molly walked over to him and took the note off him, falling to the floor with a moaning cry as she read what it said. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco shared a look of worry and, as one, they got up and made their way to the married couple. Gently, Hermione took the paper from Molly's trembling hand and held it open so that they could all read the hastily scrawled words.

_Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever._

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update last week! I'd written out part of this chapter, but it wasn't hitting my minimum word count and I was stuck for ideas. Originally I wanted to dedicate a whole chapter to introducing the Burrow, and everybody currently in it, but I had to give up on that plan for a lack of ideas. Also, I figured out why this fic wasn't getting a very high readership- I forgot to add the characters into the sorting thingy. I can't believe I forgot to do that, it's such a rookie mistake! But, I fixed it, so there should be more people reading this now! Hi, new people! Please critique me on any other rookie mistakes I might have made! I live for feedback, even if it's 'you're doing this wrong' feedback!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: In which Draco accidentally joins a life-or-death mission

The room dropped several degrees in temperature, and everybody else seemed to disappear (though in reality, all the customers were still there, though they did become silent at the owner's' outbursts).

_Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever._

Nobody knew what to say, what to do. The ominous, threatening message had cast a spell of silence over the room, and nobody could break it, even if they wanted to.

McGonagall stood from her seat and strode to Molly, helping her up and into a chair. Silent tears were running down the plump woman's chubby cheeks.

The message had to mean Ginny. Who else was there that this mystery person could be talking about? Especially when it was sent to the Weasleys- there were only two females in the whole family, generally speaking, and if one was already there, then it had to mean...

"Ginny." Hermione whimpered softly, breaking the silence. Her breathing was shallow. "Oh, God, Ginny. This is all my fault, if I had listened to her she wouldn't have left, and she'd be..."

"This doesn't mean Miss Weasley is dead." Dumbledore said, gently rubbing Arthur on the back in comfort.

"What do you mean, of course it does! It said... it said... her skeleton!" Molly wailed.

"That doesn't exactly mean she is dead... What is the use of sending a message telling us she is? What purpose would that have?" Dumbledore reasoned.

"They probably got a twisted kick out of it." Ron grumbled darkly.

"You think she might be alive?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"I do. There's no point in sending us a note about an event we cannot prevent. Whoever sent this note only wants us to think Miss Weasley is dead." Dumbledore said, nodding sagely.

"What's the point in that?" Draco asked.

"They know that if somebody on our side dies, we will collect the body, especially if other members of their family are also on our side." Dumbledore explained. "They've sent us that message so that we will go and collect Miss Weasley's body, and when we get to this 'chamber', they will be waiting to ambush us. This doesn't mean that she isn't dead, she may be, but until somebody gets there we won't know."

"Gets where?"

"Yeah, how do we even know where this 'chamber' place is?"

"Well, coincidentally, Miss Granger brought me a piece of text to translate, and I understand the most of it. Though the directions are from the cave you found, if we could look at a map and chart it out I think we could figure it out easily." Dumbledore looked at Hermione, and the bushy haired girl hurried to retrieve one of the maps she'd made of the ocean as far as she (and her friends) had explored it.

* * *

Half an hour later, and Hermione and Dumbledore had successfully mapped out a route to where Ginny probably was, hopefully still alive. The pub was evacuated of people not directly involved with the Order, and now it was empty, Draco noticed it felt quite bare. The largest table had been cleared of all its plates and glasses, and had been dragged into the centre of the room. Hermione's map was spread on top of it, new ink stains marking a rough line from the island they were currently on to what was, for now, empty sea. Everybody stood around it, looking down at the map, apart from Molly, who was busying herself washing plates, in an attempt to keep her mind off of her daughter.

"It'll take you three days to get there." Dumbledore explained as he showed everybody the route he and Hermione had calculated.

"But it'll only take us over two days if we take Harry's ship, it's slightly more streamlined." Hermione added.

"Good idea, Miss Granger. You, Mr Weasley and Mr Potter will go in The Chosen Boat, then, find and collect Miss Weasley, hopefully alive, and get out of there." Drumbledore instructed, looking at each of them in turn. "Before you leave, each of you make sure you have enough ammunition. Including cannonballs, for all we know Basil Izk may give chase to you."

"Albus, are you sure sending them is the best idea? They're only children, we could contact Kingsley, or Moody..." McGonagall began, but Harry spoke over her.

"There isn't enough time. By the time they get the message, and get there, Ginny could be dead." He said seriously.

"I need to make sure my sister is okay!" Ron added, his tone borderline begging the old woman.

"It's my fault Ginny's in this mess, I need to fix it." Hermione finished, frowning slightly. "Besides, we make a great team, we can do this."

"Then it's settled." Dumbledore said, clapping his hands. "Just as I originally planned. The sooner you all leave, the higher the chances are of her surviving, so... chop chop!" He shooed the three away, and then went to Molly to help her calm down.

Hermione, Harry and Ron practically jumped out of the door to the inn, and ran down to the harbour so fast it looked almost as though they were flying. Hermione took a side-stop nearer to the docks when she saw Lionel standing outside of a pub, flirting with some woman. In all honesty, it was less flirting, and more of trying not to blush and attempting to keep a cool head while the women flirted with him, but they seemed to find his bashfulness alluring so he seemed to be pulling.

"Lionel!" Hermione almost screeched as she skidded to a halt beside him. He jumped, as did the women surrounding him, who fixed Hermione with a glare for interrupting them.

"Captain?"

"No time to explain, Ginny's in trouble, Chosen Boat, you look after the ship!" Hermione babbled, turning and running towards Harry and Ron's ship before Lionel could agree, or disagree, to his new, temporary job.

"Uh... Sorry, ladies, but it looks like I have a job to do." Lionel said, in a slightly higher pitched tone, standing straighter and walking away as casually as he could. When his face was out of sight of their gaze, he grinned and silently celebrated being able to get away. He never felt comfortable surrounded by females. The women watched him go, sighing.

"I do love a man with responsibility." One of them commented, fanning herself drammatically with her hand.

"Mm," agreed another, "but pirates are a bit hard to pin down for marriage."

* * *

While Hermione was securing her ship-sitter, Harry was busy doing a headcount of his crew, and running off to find the stragglers when he came up short a few. Ron was doing a less glamorous job, of checking their inventory and the reliability of their cannons.

When Harry's crew were assembled in front of him, he turned to them. "Okay, Ron's sister is being held hostage by one of Voldemort's most fearsome allies, Basil Izk." A couple of the crew turned pale and muttered at the sound of Basil's name. "Me, Ron and Hermione- you guys remember Hermione, right? Or at least I've told you the story about the troll and the toilet- we're going to get Ginny back. All right guys, let's go- nobody has to come who doesn't want to. I can't ask any of you to risk your lives on my word. We all know that Basil Izk is dangerous, she won't show us mercy because we have family, or friends... You deciding not to join me on this adventure doesn't mean you won't be a part of our crew. You can stay here, take up local work or just have a little-to-long vacation. And when we come back-" the word _if_ clung to the back of Harry's throat like a wet leaf to a person's skin, "-you can come aboard like nothing happened, no dock from your pay, nothing. Nobody will think any less of you for valuing your own lives."

Everybody stood there for a moment, mumbling about to themselves. A couple of them awkwardly shuffled past their crewmates and headed for the gangplank, but the rest stood their grounds. One of them called out, "This is our fight too, Harry! We're with ya!"

Hermione chose this moment to jump onto the deck, landing on her feet delicately and silently. "Is everything ready for cast-off, Harry? I have the map, I have powder, Lionel's watching the ship, Steve's spreading the word, I'm ready to go."

"Captain!" She turned and peered over the railing at the familiar voice. Akakios stood at the bottom of the gangplank, looking slightly worried. "Is it true what Steve said? Is Miss Ginny..."

"Yeah-" Hermione began.

"Then I request permission to come with you, Captain!" He interrupted.

"What-"

"Sure thing, man!" Harry said, looking at the pair briefly as he rushed past to secure a rope. Akakios gave a little whoop and climbed up the gangplank.

"Harry!" Hermione complained.

"What? More people, a higher success rate." Harry shrugged, clenching his teeth as he pulled the rope taut.

"Harry, that isn't sound logic..." Hermione said, and sighed. "Okay, Aka, you can come, I guess. I can't stop you."

"Thank you, Captain." Akakios said. "I'm... Everyone's really worried about Miss Ginny, so I feel like I need to help, somewhat."

"But you should be careful. You have a family..." Hermione trailed off.

"I will, Captain." Akakios promised, smiling fondly at her. "Though, I suppose I should be calling you Captain, now?" He added, looking over at Harry.

"Nah." He shrugged. "Hermione's your Captain before I am, mate." He thrust his hand towards the old man. "Call me Harry."

"Harry it is then. You can call me Aka." Akakios grinned, shaking it enthusiastically.

Ron chose that moment to pop up from below deck. "All's ready for shove off Harry. We've got enough cannonballs down here to make armour for everybody on the ship, if we melted it down. And another pair for parties!"

"Okay Ron!" Harry said, hopping over to the helm and grasping it with both hands. He began to bark out orders, Ron covering things he missed out as he and Hermione pulled a rope together to make one of the larger sails billow out like a parachute. As the large boat left the dock, it was so alive with activity that the ship's deck seemed to vibrate. Nobody was stood still, as soon as they were done with one job they were jumping straight into the next one. The entire scene was reminiscent of a bee hive. Though she was still terrified for Ginny, Hermione couldn't help but feel happy and content with the situation as it was. It had been so long since she'd been following somebody else's orders on a ship, and when you gave the orders you always found gaps in your schedule to stand about, doing nothing. But when others were giving you orders, you could forget everything else and just throw yourself into the work; bury yourself in your pulling and pushing and heaving and tying and climbing and twisting...

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Hermione grinded to a halt, her entire thought process freezing. And then she spun around. "Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, nothing, until somebody gives me a job." Draco commented honestly, with a hint of sarcasm. He leant against a part of the railing, looking unbothered about the fact that he had boarded a ship that was sailing as fast as it could toward a sword-slashing, gun-wielding, blood-thirsty, blind maniac.

"You know what I meant." Hermione said, glaring at him as she stomped towards him. "Why are you on this boat, you should have stayed on the island!"

"You could have told me that before we set sail!" Draco replied, equally hostile.

"I didn't think you would be dumb enough to board the ship in the first place!"

"You've been forcing me to shadow you since the day you tied me onto a mast and held a sword to my throat, how was I supposed to recognise the change in your routine if you didn't vocalise it?"

Hermione gave a short scream of frustration. "You do realise that we're on our way to a place where we'll probably be fighting, right? We'll probably see Basil Izk again? You cried at the death of a child you didn't even know, and you think you'll be able to cope in a battle? You don't even have something to defend yourself with! Harry!"

Harry winced as Hermione strode her way angrily towards him. "Y-yes, Hermione?"

"Do you have any spare weapons I could borrow for that idiot?" Hermione asked (though it sounded demanding), violently jerking her head towards Draco, who complained loudly at being called an idiot.

"I don't know, Ron did the inventory- Ron!" Harry called, his voice coming out in a high-pitched squeak.

"Ron!"

"Ah! Don't bring me into this Harry, please!" Ron begged, flinching from Hermione's furious gaze which whipped around to him. "Um, I think we have a couple of swords in the hold?" Hermione thanked him, dragging Draco below deck by the neck of his shirt, the blonde complaining the entire way. Ron looked at Harry warily. "God, she's terrifying when she's angry, eh, mate?"

Harry laughed.

**A/N: Sorry! I totally meant to get this up by last night, but it was late and my mind was shutting down, and I was just like 'eh'. So, happy belated birthday to Harry and JK! Sorry for the late birthday present.**

**Once again, if you guys are enjoying the story, don't forget to favourite, follow and/or review, or just even review if you aren't logged in! I'm happy to answer any questions any of you have about the story.**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- In which Draco learns how to defend himself

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow- Granger!" Draco complained in a whining voice as Hermione dragged him down towards the hold. "Granger, that hurts!"

"You know what will hurt more? Getting stabbed to death!" She snapped, her voice shrill. He pulled himself away from her, glaring. "I mean, what were you thinking?"

"What do you mean? What was I meant to think?" Draco shot back, rubbing his neck.

"You were meant to realise that a possible battlefield was no place for you!" Hermione stomped her foot, and looked about the hold. She groaned. "Would it kill those two to organise down here? 'We have weapons' Ron says, weapons where? All I see is a big mess of... of junk! We'll be lucky to find you a toothpick in this pigsty!" She pulled her sleeves up (which was mostly for show, since she wore short-sleeves). "Okay, Mr. Malfoy, change of plans, we're organising this mess so that we can find you a sword or something."

Not sure if there was a way to get out of it, and figuring he was in enough trouble as it was, Draco reached down and picked up the smallest thing nearest to him, placing it behind him.

"No, no, no!" Hermione snapped as it fell to the floor with a small thud. "If you do that, it's just going to create another mess! We need to organise. Look," Hermione picked up a couple of small things (including, but not limited to, a smelly, stained brown shirt, a wooden clock with broken glass and a rusty dagger with a splintery hilt), "we'll put them in piles: weapons," she dropped the dagger, "sailing equipment, spare... things," she dropped the shirt, which had been held as far away from her as possible, "and junk." She dropped the wooden clock- there was a small crack, and another small fracture appeared on the glass. Hermione winced, smiling nervously. "Okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Draco said, picking up the object again. It was a box. After struggling with the rusty hinges for a couple of seconds, it sprang open, and Draco discovered that it was a compass. He placed it in the sailing pile (which couldn't really be called a pile yet, as there was only, like, three objects there).

After about an hour of 'tidying the hold', Draco was getting bored. Deadly, numbingly, crushingly bored. The entire process was repetitive: pick up object, look at object, drop object on small hill of trash, repeat. He could literally feel his brain shutting down.

And then a sharp, short, startled scream woke it up rapidly.

Draco's head whipped up to see exactly what had made Hermione scream- she'd jumped back to the opposite side of the hold, wheezing and clutching her chest. Her eyes were wide and glued to a spot in the huge pile of junk they'd barely made a dent in.

Footsteps were heard thundering down towards them, and Harry burst into the hold. "Hermione! Are you okay!"

Hermione blinked slowly, stepping closer to whatever made her scream. And then her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Harry, her voice both confused and angry when she finally spoke. "Harry Potter, your best friend has arachnophobia. Why is there a giant dead spider down here, are you trying to give everybody a heart attack?"

Harry sighed with relief, running his hand through his hair. "Oh, you've met Arnold? Heh heh, sorry, I guess we should have warned you about him, huh?" Hermione stared at him until he began to explain. "It's the baby spider that climbed onto Ron's back and hid itself, remember, until we got back to the boat? That time when we found the species of giant spider and they tried to eat us?"

"That's a baby?" Draco asked, moving so he could look at 'Arnold'. Only its face was visible from the hole they had created, but its face was enough to give people nightmares. It was huge and brown, with pincers the size of Draco's hands. It was hairy, but not in a cute, fluffy way, but more like the bare, scratchy hair you found on worn-down, taxidermied bear statues. Two large, black, lifeless eyes made up most of the dead arachnids face, but several smaller, blacker, deadlier eyes surrounded them. They seemed to be watching Draco, even though it was surely dead. The boy took a weary step backwards.

"Of course, you remember us killing it, right? But I thought to myself, you know what, it looks really cool, and it'd be a great memento, so I hid it in the hold and got it stuffed when we went to Diagon Island. Of course, Ron went mental when he found out, which is why we keep it at the bottom of the Hoard- that's the big pile of stuff you're dismantling. By the way, why are you dismantling the Hoard?"

"Because nobody can find anything in this mess." Hermione replied, glancing at Arnold. "Though I suppose sometimes that's a good thing."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Harry said. "Here, you've already grabbed a bunch of weapons. Why don't we put everything else back around Arnold, and go get some dinner? Me and Ron'll sort the hold out once we've saved Ginny."

"Promise?" Hermione asked, though she was already picking up a torn sail and covering Arnold's eyes.

"I promise." Harry grinned. Draco noticed the crossed fingers behind Harry's back, but didn't comment on it. He was too tired to listen to more of Hermione's rants.

* * *

Draco was woken up the next day just after the sun rose above the horizon. Since some of Harry and Ron's crew had elected to stay away from the mission, there had been enough beds for Hermione, Draco and Akakios to sleep in (something Draco was thankful for). Breakfast was an apple and some leftover pie that Molly had given them before they'd left, a pie that reminded Draco of home (mostly because it actually filled him up completely). And after breakfast, he went up on deck to face whatever it was Hermione had planned for him.

She was stood next to the pile of weapons she and Harry had pulled from the hold the evening before. The pile was smaller than the one they had created in the hold, since a lot of the weapons they'd found where either rusty, broken, or long-range. Hermione was picking each weapon up and tossing it in the air with a pensive look on her face.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, and Hermione jumped. She looked at him crossly, then schooled her expression.

"I'm testing the weight of the weapons. I think some of them are a bit too heavy for you." She replied, passing the sword she held back and forth in her hands.

"C'mon, they can't be that heavy, can they?" Draco said, rolling his eyes lightly. Hermione raised her eyebrow and held her sword out towards him, hilt first. Draco took it in one hand, crying out as it dropped his hand to the floor. It must have weighed about seven hundred cannonballs! How could anybody be expected to hold that?!

Hermione laughed, and Draco pouted. "As I said, I think some of them are a bit too heavy for you." She took the sword off him and placed it back onto the pile, before helping him up. As Draco dusted himself off, Hermione bent over to pick up another one. "Here, this should be more your speed. At least, until we can get you one that properly suits you."

Draco took it from her, holding the sword in two hands. It wasn't the longest blade he'd ever seen (not that he'd seen many), and it was silver, speckled with black spots. He wasn't sure if they were meant to be there or not, but didn't ask. The hilt was comfortable in his hands, though the string wrapped around it was a bit scratchy. And it was still heavy, but not so heavy that Draco couldn't hold it. With two hands. He hoped Hermione wouldn't ask him to hold it with one.

"Now, I should be asking you to hold it with one hand," Hermione began, and Draco felt as though she'd read his mind, "but you aren't quite there yet. So, we'll begin with you just holding it with both hands?"

"Um, sure, you know better than I do." Draco shrugged, inwardly cheering that he wouldn't have to collapse on the deck from the weight of the sword. That would have been embarrassing.

"Okay then, copy my stance." Hermione said, altering her footing. Draco copied her movements. "You might not remember to keep this stance during a battle, which is why you need to practice it so much. Eventually, you'll be able to do it subconsciously, and that will improve your performance tenfold. Now, keeping your form, I'm going to teach you some basic defensive maneuvers..."

Training went on in this fashion (Hermione moving and ranting about 'the finer details of swordplay', and Draco mimicking her moves and breaking a heavy sweat) until the sun was high in the sky. There wasn't a cloud to be seen, and the sword was slipping from Draco's grip, due to his clammy hands. Hermione berated him for it. "Honestly, Mr. Malfoy, it's always going to be this hot, get used to it." She huffed. "… I'll see if I can find some spare cloth to bandage your hands in, maybe that will help. You can... take a break."

Draco gave a weak cheer, dropping his sword and hauling his exhausted ass to an area of the deck that was cast in a relieving shadow. Akakios was also sat there, sharpening his own blade with a rock, and he smiled at Draco as Draco sat down.

"Hello, Draco." The old man greeted. "You look dead on your feet."

"I feel it!" Draco complained. "I swear, she's going to kill me herself, my entire body is burning!"

Akakios laughed. "She's only doing this because she cares about you. She doesn't want you to get hurt."

"The way she's going, I will get hurt, because I'll... break my leg, or something!"

"Wouldn't make Izk's men go any easier on you." Akakios replied in an unusually serious tone. He passed Draco a drink, which the young man gratefully gulped down. "She's a ruthless woman, and her men follow her example."

"Have you fought her before?" Draco asked.

"No, but a guy hears stories... I haven't actually been in this business long enough to have met her, you know. Only about a year."

"Yeah, I remember, you were a fisherman, right?" Draco clarified. "But you couldn't earn enough for your family, so you became a pirate?"

"That's right!" Akakios nodded. His eyes brightened, and he pulled a worn, browning piece of paper from his pocket. He showed its contents to Draco. A portrait of three young, Greek children was sketched amaturely on the paper- two boys who stood on either side of a young girl. "These're my children." He pointed at the tallest boy, who's small facial features were twisted into a pout. "That's my eldest, Spiro. He's really hit a growth spurt recently, he doesn't look like this at all anymore. But, eh, wasn't he cute as a button when this was drawn? I know he's making that face because his mother made him sit still for so long, he's a very active boy, likes playing sword with the sticks he finds. Always running about, you can't make him stop for anything... And this other boy is Gegorios, named after my grandfather, but we all just call him Greg. He's only 10, four years younger than Spiro, and he looks up to his older brother like he's one of the Greek Gods, aye. If you're looking for Greg, look for Spiro. He'll only be a couple of steps behind. It's very cute, but Spiro's always getting annoyed about it, that little urchin. He wants to run about and go on adventures, and he reckons his little brother is dragging him down. But they love each other, really.

"And this little sweetheart, she's only a toddler in this picture but she's 8 now, she's getting so grown up- her name is Selene. And what a beauty she is. I swear, she must be part siren or something, she's as cute as anything. And she always gets her way. And if she doesn't, she pulls this little frown, and her eyes grow so wide and she makes tears in the corner of her eyes... You can't say no to that face." Akakios shook his head, smiling. "And, my wife, Helen, isn't in this picture, I know, but it's because she drew this for me, to remember my children by when I'm out at sea. Ain't she an artist?" Draco politely agreed, although it was nothing compared to the paintings hung on the walls of Malfoy Manor. "And she's beautiful, too. Out of all the folks I could have married, I'm glad I married her, and that she said yes."

"Were there many marriage candidates for you?" Draco asked. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about an old man's love life, but he realised that the longer he spoke to Akakios, the longer his break would probably be.

"Ach, too many to count on one finger! I was always a ladies man." He winked at Draco, and then laughed. "A mens man, too! I swear I would've married Steve if I hadn't met Helen. Though, I guess we probably wouldn't have been able to find a pastor that would have married us, but there you go." Akakios took the water back of Draco and took a large swig out of it. "I don't regret my choices; I have three beautiful children, and I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Draco smiled sadly. He wondered if his father thought the same of him. Even though, growing up, Draco hadn't really cared as long as Lucius brought him presents, he now wondered if his father really loved him as family, and not just because Draco was his only living heir. Would Lucius care that Draco had been kidnapped by pirates, or that he could very well die in the next 24 hours? Or would he just bed his wife again, hoping she would bear him a better son the second time around? _God, that's a horrible thought. Enough thinking for one day... I need to change the subject somehow!_ "Uh... so you're gay?"

Akakios laughed. "Bisexual. There isn't really much difference between cute people, unless you count what's in their pants."

Draco almost sighed with relief when Hermione walked over to him with a pair of gloves. Akakios was a pretty cool guy, but Draco did _not_ want the conversation turn to old guy sex.

"Okay then, Mr. Malfoy, put these on and we'll get back to work. Ah, Aka, good timing!" Hermione gave the old man a cheerful smile that filled Draco with dread. "Could you help us out, please? I've got some wooden swords here, so could you attack Mr. Malfoy with all you've got? We're practicing defensive maneuvers, and I'd love to see how his lessons would pay off in a real life simulation!"

Draco gave a small groan. If it was any consolation, at least his (possible) last ever sleep was going to be a deep one.

* * *

The next day, just before midday, their destination came into view. It was an inconspicuous looking, crescent-shaped island, made mostly out of rock. Harry steered the boat around the island until he found a bay with a large opening in the rock beside it- an entrance to a cave.

It was decided that only Hermione, Harry, Ron, and two members of the latter two's crew would actually go into the cave. Some would place themselves just outside of the cave, to aid in the rescue teams escape, and the others would stay on the boat, keeping it ready to set off as soon as trouble arose.

Before she left, Hermione pulled Draco aside. She checked he had his sword and then looked at him seriously. "Mr. Malfoy, you understand how dangerous this is, don't you?"

"Yes, Granger." Draco said. At any other moment, he would have rolled his eyes, but the event was too serious for eye rolling.

"Okay. So there are two things I'd like you to do for me." Hermione took a deep breath. "First of all, I want you to take this." She pressed a small dagger into his hand. "It's the first dagger I ever owned, and it's served me well. Now I need you to have it, so that if you lose your sword, you still have a way of defending yourself. Even if you don't know how to use it... Secondly, I want you to go down into the hold, and stay there. Stay there until I, or Harry, or Ron, or Aka, or Ginny come down and tell you it's okay to come back. Hide in that disgusting pile of junk if you need to, just... stay hidden. Only join the fight if you have to. This isn't play time, this isn't a practice, this is real life, and you could get killed, or worse... Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, Granger." Draco repeated, his body slightly shivering. Her words had put a weight so heavy onto him that he felt like he would drown if he went into the ocean. Of course, he would drown anyway, as nobody had ever felt the need to teach him how to swim, but you get the idea. He gave her a stiff nod, wished her good luck, and went down into the hold.

It was eerily quiet down there. The only sounds Draco could hear were the creaking of the ship, the calming rush of waves crashing into the hull and the quick, frantic beating of his heart. It was dark, and Draco hadn't thought to bring a lantern, so he couldn't see anything to waste time with. He supposed it was a good thing, however, since if he could see, he'd probably get a glimpse of Arnold, and that would make him even more nervous than he already was.

Down there, he couldn't hear any shouts from on deck, saying good or bad news. He couldn't see exactly when the rescue group had returned, if they were hurt... if one of them didn't return. He wouldn't know if Ginny was dead, or alive, until somebody told him. He hadn't even liked her that much, not really, but after this he didn't think he'd ever dislike her again. Especially if she was dead. Please don't let her be dead. It would be the first time somebody he knew, and knew quite closely, had died. What Hermione had said two days before floated into his mind. _"You cried at the death of a child you didn't even know, and you think you'll be able to cope in a battle?"_ For the first time since boarding the Endeavour, Draco realised that he was really out of his depth. And he was frightened.

And then he heard the gunshot.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. This is late, I'm terrible at keeping deadlines, blame the fact I have no schedule. When it's September, and I'm back in college, I'll probably set time aside to write more. The only reason I got this written for today is because I said to myself 'I have to write this chapter before I go on holiday' because I'm going on holiday to a place which probably won't have wi-fi. So I probably won't be able to write more than the next plot point. And I definitely won't be able to get it out to you guys. (And it's also the reason I put that evil last line in to this chapter mwahahaha). So you're stuck wondering who shot the bullet, and who got hit. Don't you just love cliffhangers?**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: In which Guns are shot

Hermione stepped down off the gangplank, with Harry, Ron and their two men, (who were called Morgan and Will) in tow. The island didn't have a beach; in fact, it was more like a huge rock than an island. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and a million worst-case scenarios rushed through her head. There was a 90% chance that they were walking into an ambush. She shared a glance with Harry, who smiled at her reassuringly.

They entered the cave.

It was pitch black. Hermione wished they'd thought to take a lantern, or a torch with them- she could barely see in front of her face. The group of five shuffled forwards, one foot after the other- left, right, left, right, until they found the back wall of the cave- a long, curving wall. A crack from the rock above lit up the wall dimly, and Hermione squinted to examine it.

"It's a dead end." Ron commented, his voice trembling slightly. "It was a trap; it's a dead end, oh God-"

"No, wait," Hermione interrupted, looking closely at the wall, "I think... Something's written on it." As their eyes got used to the darkness, they realised there was writing on the wall, the same golden scrawl Hermione had seen in the other cave.

"You can read it, can't you, Hermione?" Will asked, looking at her apprehensively.

"I guess..." Hermione said slowly. "I know a little of the language, but..." She shook her head. "No, don't worry. I'll figure it out..."

She gulped, and began to translate the text aloud in a faltering, stuttering manner. "Um... 'Behind this'… entrance? I think? 'Behind this entrance'… the next word a verb, I'm sure of it, next, but I don't know what it means... 'Behind this entrance, something a friend' … I think the next word means traveling? Um... Well, the closest word I could get to the one after it in the English language is some sort of merchant, or trader..." She tilted her head to the left, frowning. "Huh, this is weird, I'm sure the next phrase is 'foe of death', but, traditionally Mexican culture has positive views on death... 'and... his...' lost? Hidden? I don't know... 'treasure'."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Ron commented loudly, his voice echoing around the cave.

"I've only read half so far, Ron. And I told you I'm not an expert on Nahuatl." Hermione snapped, taking several deep breaths.

"So the first part is something like 'Behind this entrance is' or whatever the verb was 'a friend, a traveling merchant, the foe of death, and his lost treasure.'" Harry summarized. "It does make a little sense. Maybe this 'lost treasure' thing is what Voldemort is after."

"Yeah, and maybe this person the text is talking about isn't Mexican? You said they were a traveler, maybe they came from somewhere else that doesn't like death?" Morgan theorised. "And he made friends with some Mexican people, and they always found it weird that he didn't like death?"

"Maybe it doesn't matter." Ron replied crankily, rolling his eyes. "Maybe we should focus on finding my sister."

"You're right, sorry Ron. But this means that there is a door somewhere in this wall. And all we need to do now is figure out how to open it. I'll look at the next half of the passage." Hermione said, taking several deep breaths. "Okay… 'Only… those… who…' Um,this word has two meanings. It could be sacrifice, but it could also be pay, 'the…' Well, I guess you could use the word toll here, which would make the other word pay... 'And prove… Prove themselves… worthy?'" Hermione nodded her head in a silent confirmation to herself. "'May enter his' secret? I think that's secret. I don't know… 'may enter his secret…' Um, I think this next word is grave, but it could be room, or home, or something like that." She took a deep breath, and recited the whole passage again. "'Behind this entrance is a friend, a traveling merchant, the foe of death, and his lost treasure. Only those who pay the toll and prove themselves worthy may enter his secret room.' Basically."

"So what is the toll? What do we have to do?" Harry asked.

"There's sure to be a clue around here somewhere, right?" Morgan echoed Harry's tone. "Some sort of flat surface to put the payment on, or some sort of slot to insert it?"

The five of them began to feel along the cave wall. The rock was a sandy yellow-brown in colour, and strangely dry considering that the cave would probably be completely submerged during high tide.

Harry felt around the rock, bits of it crumbling away in his fingers. And then his left hand touched something damp. A small out-cropping of rock, no bigger than his hand, had some sort of sticky stain on it. He lifted his hand up to his face to get a closer look at the substance. In the dim light, it looked almost brown. Harry tentatively licked it, and recoiled at the tangy, metal taste. "Blood!" He exclaimed loudly, and the others turned to look at him. "There's blood on this part of the cave. It's quite fresh, do you think…"

"Blood is the payment the text asks for?" Hermione finished. "Quite likely. It's the only part of the wall that's different. So who should…"

But Ron was already getting out his knife. "I'll do it." Ron said, walking over to where Harry was stood.

"Ron…"

"No, Harry, I said I'd do it." Ron insisted. "She's my sister, my responsibility; I'll do it." He sliced quickly through his left palm, and placed it onto the rock forcefully, hissing quietly with pain.

For a second, nothing happened. And then there was a judder from the rock. In the corner, where there was a small, unsuspicious pile of rocks, shafts of light began to shine through. And then the rocks began to slide about and fall, the whole pile collapsing. Looking at each other one final time, the group scrambled up the fallen pile of rocks, promising themselves to put the wall together again later.

The chamber on the other side of the entrance was larger than Hermione had ever seen, even larger than the cave that told them how to get there. The cave's floor was almost completely covered in a shallow water puddle, just like the other cave, that was still, and serene, like a mirror reflecting the ceiling- which was aglow with a thousand stars in the same shining paint as the other cave's. They twinkled and sparkled and made the cave as bright as daylight. In the center of the cave's ceiling was a large hole (painted around it were glowing flares that made the hole look like the sun). It created a column of light that filtered down onto a pile of black cloth, made grey by dust, which sat on a small pile of sparkling pebbles, and a sun-bleached skeleton that lay on a large slab of rock. Stood by the dead body was Basil Izk, her arm curled around Ginny's throat. The young girl looked frightened, but she didn't look hurt. Everybody let out a breath they didn't realise they were holding.

When she saw them, Ginny grinned thankfully. Basil seemed to tense up, as if she could tell that somebody had entered the room.

"Ginny!" Harry called out. "Basil Izk, let Ginny go!"

Basil smiled a smile that sent shivers down their spines. "I have no further use for her, so…" One of Basil's hands snaked down towards the holster for her gun.

"No!" Hermione yelled, and Ginny's eyes widened, guessing what the cause of Hermione's distress was. With her limited mobility, she pulled her head forward and slammed it backwards into Basil's chin. Basil cussed, and loosened her stance. Ginny lifted one of her feet and slammed it down on to her captor's foot. Basil's grip loosened more, and Ginny twisted, punching Basil in the gut. Basil let go of Ginny and doubled over, and Ginny ran through the water towards her friends.

But Basil was quick to recover. She stood up straight and held the gun up towards the splashing sounds of Ginny's escape. She pulled the trigger, and Ginny screamed. It had only just missed her head. She skidded to a halt next to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who stood in front of her protectively.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Ron asked, without letting his eyes off of Basil. The tall woman's eyes were cast toward the floor, burning holes into it with her intense gaze. Her whole body was tense and frozen, her mouth a tight line. Her gun was now pointing to the floor, but her trigger finger twitched.

"I'm fine." Ginny said shakily. She pulled at, and twisted, the cuffs of some handcuffs on her wrists. The chain was broken, so she could move, but the cuffs were too tight to take off. "I was a bit scared, but I'm okay. She cut my hand to get in here, but it's nothing that won't heal."

"Good."

"Why did you take Ginny?" Hermione asked, her hand slowly creeping for her gun in protection. "What would you have to gain from that?"

Basil's head lifted, and Hermione felt her heart stop when Basil's unseeing eyes met hers. "You think I didn't know you were in that cavern, two weeks ago? This chamber is meant to remain a secret, if only so that nobody knows I took what is stored here." Basil placed her gun back into its holster, and picked up her staff, stomping it against the ground. She stepped over to the pile of black cloth to pick it up. They seemed to be sails, and large ones at that, but she held them as if they were nothing, never taking her gaze off of Hermione. "So, I had to find a way to lure you here, and there's no better bait than a hostage."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Hermione said, her brow creasing.

Basil paused, and then spoke slowly. "What makes you think that?"

"If you wanted to keep the cavern a secret, you would have found a way to lure only two people. Sending that message to the Burrow only let even more people know of this place's existence! Which means that you wanted people to find this place… but why?" Hermione frowned, and then her eyes widened in realization. "You wanted a lot of people to come… you are going to ambush us, just like Dumbledore predicted!"

"Clever girl." Basil praised, her lips twisting into a bloodthirsty smile, though she looked less than pleased at the mention of the old man who had blinded her. "I knew I'd have to kill you, anyway, and the wimp that was beside you- where is he, by the way? He isn't with you now, I can't sense him, so I'm guessing you left him on the boat you came in- probably hid him below decks, possibly in the hold. Either way, I knew I'd have to kill you two, so I figured why not raise the death count? My Lord would be pleased with fewer ships trying to blow him down."

The words were like a signal. Three of Basil's crew, dressed in their black and green, dropped down from the hole in the ceiling. It was a long drop down, but they seemed unscathed by the fall as they crouched, cat-like, on the floor, and then uncurled themselves while drawing their guns, with grins equally as bloodthirsty as their captain's.

"Where are the rest of them?" Hermione breathed, and then gasped. "We have to get back to the boat."

_If Basil Izk's crew aren't in the cave waiting to ambush us, that means that they've already ambushed us. And the target wasn't the five of us, or Ginny, but our boat._

And Draco was on the boat.

**A/N: Hello again! Summer is over, school has begun again, and I've had a shock at how much work I have to do in school already! Of course, it would be less work if I wasn't letting it pile up until the weekend, but... you know. And I have a laaarrrgeeee break on Friday's between like 10 and 1, so I have plenty of time to do last-minute edits and stuff and post this chapter up to you guys! That, combined with the fact that I've written up to Chapter 15 (and am about halfway through Chapter 16), means that I have literally no excuse (at least up until Chapter 16) to not update once per week! I am officially back on schedule! And it's a good thing too, because shit is about to go down.**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: In which Draco technically kills somebody

**Warning:**** This chapter contains mild violence, mentions of blood and deaths of unnamed characters.**

For the first couple of minutes after Hermione, Harry, Ron, Morgan and Will had entered the cave, everything on the ship was quiet. Some people sharpened their swords, just in case, some people sat around and joked, and one person even decided to have a quick nap, since nothing seemed to be happening.

And then they heard a gunshot.

And all hell broke loose.

As soon as the gun sounded, the rocks around the island seemed to come to life. They overturned, or uncurled, to reveal all of Basil Izk's men (minus three, who were waiting for Basil's command to drop down beside her). Before any of the Chosen Boat's crew could react, their enemies boarded the vessel with a loud, blood-curdling yell. And then the deck was alive with the sounds of swords clashing, and people yelling and groaning and cursing. It was taking Harry's men all of their skill to parry the forceful blows of Basil's men.

This was the scene the rescue group (plus Ginny) were met with when they speeded out of the cave and into daylight.

"Shit." Harry cursed under his breath, drawing his sword and running up the gangplank and into the fight. The others quickly followed him, and not just because they wanted to help their friends.

Basil Izk, and her three men strode out of the cave seconds after the rescue group did. The three men began to run towards the ship as well, but Basil continued at a leisurely pace. She placed the black sailcloth onto the ground, and then drew her gun once more. With each step she took she hit the ground with her staff, in her right hand, and then shot toward the ship with her left hand. She shot Will in the leg. She shot three of her men dead, but she didn't really care. And when she got onto the ship and her staff collided with the boards of the deck, she grinned a menacing grin.

The staff she held in her hand had been a gift from the Dark Pirate Lord Voldemort, a consolation gift for her sudden blindness. She wasn't clear on how it was made, but knew how it worked. With each thud against something solid, vibrations shivered up the staff and up Basil's arm, through her entire body. And the vibrations were able to show her solid surroundings completely. She could 'see' past doors, past walls, past barriers of solid rock, and she could definitely 'see' the things that were going on beneath the deck of a ship.

And what she 'saw' when she banged her staff on the deck, beside the people fighting around her, was the Hoard, a giant spider, and a frightened, shaking person she recognized all too well from two weeks ago.

Basil stalked through the chaos to the stairs, deflecting swords with her staff. Nobody noticed her slip down the stairs, and nobody followed her. She entered the hold, feeling the coolness now that she was out of the sun. She could hear the sound of waves lapping the hull, and the distant sounds of swords clanging together. If she tilted her head slightly to the side, she could also hear the frightened, frantic, fast breathing of her target (who was trying to be quiet, and failing). If she had been able to see in the usual way, she would have only seen a large pile of junk in the hold. But, of course, she'd already 'seen' him down there. And she knew that he couldn't have escaped, so he had to be hiding.

"I know you're in here, boy, I sensed your presence." Basil banged her staff against the floor; it made a strange echoey sound. She frowned- she could see that he was in the room, but whether he was hiding behind the pile of junk or inside it was unclear. She walked forward, guessing that he wouldn't have hidden in the pile, because of the huge spider that was a part of it. As she rounded the corner of the pile, there was the sound of a badly muffled shout, and the sound of boots skidding on the boards. Basil cursed. In her haste to kill the boy as soon as possible (so that she could focus on the girl, who proved to be a tricky target), she had forgotten to bar the door, and now he'd gotten upstairs. And it would be a lot more difficult to assure his death with a bunch of other people trying to kill him as well. Basil sighed, which quickly turned into a groan of frustration, and thumped her staff onto the ground, looking for the stairs.

Draco practically exploded onto the deck, reeling back as a sword almost decapitated him. He'd been in the hold for the entire time, so he had no idea how the fight had progressed, but from his point of view it wasn't going too great.

They were outnumbered, definitely. He wasn't sure how all of Basil Izk's men had gotten there (he assumed it was to do with a ship that had been hastily tied to the Chosen Boat). And everybody was fighting, swords clashing, and oh God, he couldn't get his sword out of its scabbard- he knew he looked like an idiot but that was the least of his worries when he could die! He ducked, and a particularly sharp looking sword flew above his head.

The ominous and threatening sound of Basil Izk coming up the stairs (the loud, echoey thump of her staff, followed by two or three smaller thumps, that were her feet) lured Draco to move further into the battle. Maybe she wouldn't be able to see him if he was surrounded by muscular, sweaty, bleeding men. As he ran forward, he bumped into somebody and almost fell over. There was the feeling of metal on skin, and the stinging of being cut, before the blade was removed and Hermione was ripping a piece of cloth off her shirt with one hand.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am so sorry, I had no idea it was you, I was acting on instinct..." Hermione began to apologise, before doing a double-take. "Mr. Malfoy, what the fuck are you doing here?!"

"She's going to kill me!" Draco half-screamed, half-whined, as Hermione quickly and loosely tied the cloth around his cut.

Hermione was about to ask who, when Basil re-emerged into the fight. She really was quite a frightening sight, with her braid flapping about rather stiffly as she moved, and her eyes piercing every direction. She banged her staff with one hand, and shot with the other, not seeming to care if she shot friend or foe. And she was headed straight for Draco.

"Climb the rigging." Hermione advised, parrying a blow aimed towards her chest as she tried her best to shield them both. "Nobody should follow you up there. And if she does... keep dodging."

Draco nodded, and ducked under a raised sword arm towards the railing of the boat, barely dodging each blow aimed at him. He was all too well aware of the thumping of Basil's pursuit. He swang himself around and onto the rigging, his movements exaggerated by adrenaline. And then he was off, climbing upwards like a monkey, feeling thankful that Hermione had taken the time to teach him to climb the rigging, and that he hadn't pulled his sword out. It would have made it difficult to climb.

There was the sound of a thump, and a gunshot, and a shout of pain. Draco looked anxiously over his shoulder, and let out a startled yelp when he saw that Basil was only a couple of seconds away from him, her staff between her teeth. The sounds had come from her gun, which she had flung onto the deck instead of placing back into its holster. It had gone off when it collided with the deck, and shot one of her own men in the ass. Draco might have laughed at the sight of the grown man clutching his butt, if his eyes weren't glued to the quickly advancing madwoman who was going to kill him. (How, now that she didn't have her gun, Draco didn't know. Maybe her sword? Maybe an axe? She seemed to have a whole smithys range of weapons clinging to her sash and belt, maybe she had another gun?)

Thinking quickly, Draco remembered the dagger Hermione had given him. Pulling it out of his pocket, he swang his feet up a couple of inches and cut through the rope beneath him.

Draco's half of the rigging went slack and began to swing back and forth, no longer supported in four corners. Draco yelped and hung onto the rope for dear life, his hands turning white as they gripped the rope. In contrast, Basil was silent as her end of the rope collapsed towards the sea: Draco had no idea what had become of her, he didn't look down. He was suddenly aware of how high up he was. When the riggin stopped swinging so violently, he continued to climb to the crow's nest, less quickly now that his life wasn't in danger. His pace was also partly because of how uncertain he was on where to put his feet, as the rigging moved a lot more than it usually did. Once he was there, he leant across the nest's railing and took several deep breaths.

"She was trying to kill me!" Draco said in disbelief, not speaking to anybody in particular. "I knew that people would do that in a battle, but... I thought it was in a 'hey, you're my enemy taste my steel' kind of way! She actually singled me out and targeted me!" He shivered. It was a million degrees out, but now he felt like he was in the Arctic during winter. "She could have killed me. Oh my God, I could be dead right now. How in fuck did I survive? Oh my God, I am so lucky!" He laughed out loud, and then stopped, and frowned. "Holy shit, I should be dead." He took another deep breath, and looked over the side of the crow's nest.

The fight was still going on. There was a lot more blood than before; so much blood that it covered the deck like the shallow puddles in the cavern he'd discovered with Hermione. He could see Harry and Ron, back-to-back, fending off enemies in a spectacular display of teamwork. Ginny was fighting well, too, despite the cut on her dominant hand. Akakios was swinging his sword in impressive, foreign-looking movements. Draco winced as one of those movements sliced a sword-arm from a silver-haired man's body. And Hermione was still going, still fighting, her sword a blur as she moved through the crowd, her hair matted with blood and sweat. And over by the railing...

"Oh fuck." Draco cursed, fearfully, ducking. Somewhere in his mind, he knew the action was futile, since anybody could simply look through the gaps in the crow's nest's railing. He peeked a second look at the railing, where a calloused, black hand gripped it, not so far from where the rigging had been. As he watched, another hand, alongside an arm, reached up and curled the railings. Then Basil Izk's head emerged above the railing, staff still stubbornly clenched in her teeth. Draco wasn't sure how she had survived, and it wasn't his main concern at that moment. He ducked lower. Was she still after him? If she wasn't before, she definitely would be now. But, she might not notice him so far up, right?

Basil swung her body over the railings, landing with enviable grace on the deck. She pulled out a second sword, and took her staff out of her mouth. She hit it upon the floor. Seconds later, she did two things simultaneously. Firstly, she looked straight at Draco. Secondly, she stabbed one of her own men, as they were the ones nearest her, through the chest. Draco whimpered in sympathy. She pulled the sword back out, the blade glistening with blood, and her victim staggered to the floor with a gasp. Basil's eyes never left Draco's for a second, seeming to scream: 'This is what I'm going to do to you, only worse'.

And then she began her determined stride across the deck, through the fighting, to the only other rigging up to the crow's nest, on the other side of the ship. She began to climb it. Draco quickly tried to think through a plan. If he cut the ropes again, he'd be stranded until they got to a dock, and he could be retrieved. But, he'd be safe. Draco took Hermione's knife into his hands again, and leant over the rigging.

His previous adrenaline had faded, and been replaced with a nerve-wracking fear that made his entire body tremble and made his grip weak. He moved the blade back and forth, but it didn't seem to make a single fray in the rope. And then Draco made the mistake of looking past his shaking hand to check on the progression of his advancing foe, and the sight of her furious, monstrous glare made his fingers fumble, and the knife tumble from his grip. He backed away quickly, trying to pull his sword out of it's sheath. It wouldn't budge; why wouldn't it budge?

It didn't matter either way. Basil Izk rose from the rigging like fog over the seafront on a dark night. As was her routine, she hit the staff on the ground beneath her, but Draco didn't wait for the action. He looked left. He looked right. And then he jumped over the edge of the crow's nest.

He as aiming to land on the small bit of wood that held the sails up, and luckily he fell near enough it to grab it with his two hands. With a bit of effort, he hauled himself up onto the long, thin, circular wood, and realised what a foolish decision he had made. It was a dead end, and he was probably going to fall off if he moved. "This was a bad idea." Draco mused out loud, his voice high-pitched with fear.

"For you, yes." Basil replied, her voice dripping with triumph. She jumped down, landing lightly on the mast as though she was a cat. She had a much better balance than Draco, whose arms were out wide like the winds of a plane, his body swaying precariously. "Now you'll either die by my sword, or loose your balance trying to dodge it. I'm feeling kind- I'll let you choose how you die."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Draco said. "Either way you swing your sword and I die."

"True." Basil said, raising her sword above her head.

And at that moment, something happened that Draco could only identify as a miracle. A wind blew past him, making him lose his balance. He fell backwards, a sharp jab of pain shooting up his spine from his backside to his shoulder-blades. Then he slipped sideways, hands catching around the wood just in time. And while this was all happening, Basil swung her sword downwards, unaware her target had moved. She missed her target, and lost her balance as well, falling sideways. However, unlike Draco, her hands were full - one had the staff, and the other a sword - so she couldn't grab the edge.

As she descended down towards the deck, she thrusted her sword. She couldn't see where she was aiming, but she hoped it would catch the mast and stick there, causing her to stop falling. But instead, it met the sail, and tore through the fabric, and with a shout of defeat Basil Izk fell to the deck, landing on top of one of her own men. The two of them ceased to move. Somehow, Draco swung his legs back onto the wood, and he looked down at the scene.

Basil didn't move; didn't twitch a single muscle. Could it be possible that she was dead? Everybody paused in their fighting to look at the body of Basil Izk, and to look up in disbelief at the person who had caused her to fall. Basil's men were fearful- their Captain had just fallen to her death, and taken the Quartermaster down with her.

"Harry!" Hermione called out to her friend, breaking the silence. "Now's our chance to board Basil's ship and disable the Diary forever!"

"You heard her!" Harry repeated in a commanding tone. "Board the ship!"

Harry's crew, and everybody on his side, ran to the edge of the Chosen Boat and boarded the Diary. Basil's men shared a comedic-looking glance at each other, shrugged, and chased after them with a battle cry. If this was the end, then they may as well go out with a fight. And then, the boat was empty, apart from a bunch of unmoving bodies and Draco.

"Okay! I'll just make my own way down, then!" Draco called out sarcastically, even though the Diary was already floating away. "Don't worry, I'll be able to do it. Thanks for offering to help, though!" He slowly made his way back to the crow's nest, trying not to look down. Then he moved back down the rigging Basil had climbed up moments before, his feet finding their position with ease. He jumped down onto the deck, blood splashing his trousers, and he walked over to Basil Izk's body.

"I can't believe I did it!" He said out loud. "I killed Basil Izk. Everybody said she was so dangerous, but I... I was able to... I killed Basil Izk!"

"Not quite."

Draco screamed. Basil stood stiffly up, though she seemed slightly less confident than she was before her fall. "You're not dead!"

"I fell, and luckily this person broke my fall, or I would be dead. They definitely are, I heard their bones breaking. Was it somebody you knew?" Her tone was conversational, and Draco was thrown off the loop, slightly suspicious.

"No, one of yours." Draco replied.

"Shame." She didn't sound regretful. "You wouldn't happen to know where my staff is, would you? I seem to have dropped it during the fall."

Her staff was only a couple of feet away from her. "Sorry, I didn't see. It might have fallen overboard."

"I'm sure I'll find it one the fighting is over." Basil said. She began to feel through her jacket, looking for something. "I'm assuming the battle is still happening? It seems to have gone rather quiet."

"Oh, um, yeah. They've just gone onto the other boat, that's all. Hermione said she wanted to sink it, or something."

"Hermione? Is that the frizzy haired girl you were with when you entered the cavern?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"She seems nice, how did you two meet?"

"Well, that's kind of a funny story. I was a passenger on a ship that she robbed and burnt down, but she saved me because she heard me calling for help and thought I was a twelve year old boy."

"I can understand why she'd make that mistake."

"Hey! We have the same hair and eye colour, okay? And it was also very hard to see because of all the smoke!" Draco snapped defensively. Basil Izk smiled slyly. "Anyway, she practically kidnapped me, and dragged me all the way here! Well, not here, she actually didn't want me coming here, but she didn't tell me not to, okay? And she made me go everywhere else, so I figured she would be pulling me along too, but noooo, apparently I should have realised that it was too dangerous for me to come here. I mean, she was right, look at this, I'm in way over my head; I can't believe I haven't died yet!"

"So it was all by accident that you ended up here?"

"Yes!" Draco said enthusiastically, temporarily forgetting who he was talking to, as he talked about himself. "I'm actually the son of a successful businessman- his name is Lucius Malfoy, I'm Draco Malfoy- and he sent me on one of his merchant ships to toughen me up! I'm certain he regrets it now that I've been kidnapped by pirates. As soon as I get home, I'm sure he'll be groveling at my feet, talking about how sorry he is for sending me away! And..." His blabber stopped abruptly when Basil pulled another gun (this one smaller than the last) out of her pocket and pulled the trigger. He jumped away, barely dodging the bullet. "You tried to shoot me!"

"… Yes?"

"You're still trying to kill me?"

Basil shot her gun again, Draco barely dodging her attack once more. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Do make your sentences longer," Basil complained, "it's hard for me to aim when I can't hear you."

Draco felt like swearing. That's why she had been making conversation with him! She really was blind, he realised, and she'd been listening to his voice to figure out his location! In a way, he felt hurt. He'd thought they were finally getting along.

"Oh, now you aren't speaking?" Basil frowned. Draco had begun to back away from her as slowly and silently as he could, and she turned around in a circle slowly. "That's a shame, it was just getting interesting. Tell me, what will your mother do when you turn up back at your house? Will she also grovel at your feet? Is she still alive?"

But Draco wasn't going to fall for that again. He kept slowly walking away from her, while keeping her in his line of vision. Though she couldn't see what was going on around her, she seemed very calm. What is she planning? Does she think that she can goad me into giving away my position? Hah! I'm way too- Draco was so busy praising himself at being undetected that he didn't look where he was going, and stumbled over a dead body. "Fuck!" He swore out loud. Basil swung around to face him. Fuck, he swore in his head. Thinking quickly, Draco dived forwards and grabbed her ankles, pulling her down. Basil shot at the air, and the gun fell from her hands as she hit the deck. She groaned, and Draco jumped backwards, and moved away from her again. She didn't have the gun anymore, but Draco didn't doubt she had more weapons in her arsenal. He carefully maneuvered away from her, looking down at his feet to make sure he didn't trip over anybody else. Basil stood, and began to walk in the direction she had last heard him, getting the hint that Draco wouldn't be talking now that he knew her plan. Instead of goading him into talking, she focused her energy on trying to figure out a new plan. They walked around like this for several minutes in complete silence, until a loud crack disrupted their deadly dance.

Draco looked out to sea. He couldn't see any faces, but somebody had crashed the Diary into a large rock. There was a gaping hole in the ship's hull, and it was sinking quickly. A couple of rowboats were being lowered from the ship- from the colour of their outfits, Draco could tell that it was Harry's crew, and Harry and the others were probably with them. There were a couple of blobs outfitted in black that were trying to jump down into the boats, but they were pushed overboard.

"What was that? Please tell me." Basil said, her tone sounding fretful and humble. Draco remembered that she couldn't see what was happening, and felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"It was your ship. It's sinking. I don't think any of your crew are going to survive." Draco told her in as few words as possible.

"They're big boys. They can swim." Basil said. She'd turned and began to stalk towards Draco, pulling a knife, one side stained with blood, out of her pocket and twirling in her hand. All thoughts of sympathy fell from his mind, replaced with a heavy feeling of dread. He spun around and ran, his feet splashing in the puddles of blood, making it easy for Basil to follow him. The chase ended with Draco's back against the mainmast, Basil looming in front of him. He tried to move, but he felt frozen with terror. No words were spoken now, no taunts about Draco's death, no more clever conversation, just the descent of Basil's blade towards Draco's beating heart.

Everything seemed to slow down.

And then Draco seemed to overcome his terror, seconds before the blade hit home, and he whirred into a maneuver that he would not be able to replicate later for an audience. His right arm flew out on instinct and grabbed her forearm, pulling it across and away from his heart. At the same time, his left arm pushed her forearm away from Draco and towards her. In return, Basil tried to shake his grip off and twisted her dagger away from him in the process. It sliced through her clothes, and made a tiny cut on her left shoulder, barely the length of Draco's middle finger.

Draco looked at her nervously, waiting for her to end him, but it seemed as if Basil had been paralyzed. She dropped the knife; it clinked on the deck. She took a step backwards. Draco's face crinkled up in confusion. Basil stepped back a couple more steps. And then she began to laugh; a loud, hysterical laugh that made the hairs on the back of Draco's neck stand on end, and made him want to run for the hills. But all he did was stand and watch her, as she tilted her head skywards and laughed.

"What... Why are you laughing like that?" He asked tentatively.

"It's all over!" She cried out, still laughing. "I'm done."

"I don't understand..."

"Draco!" Hermione shot over the side of the deck from the rowing boats. She ran over to Draco like a bolt of lightning, and gave him a look-over. "Are you okay? Are you hurt at all? Oh, God, if I'd known she wasn't dead I would never have left you here! I'm sorry!" She paused, looking over at Basil, who was still laughing, a crazy glint in her eyes. "What's wrong with her? Why is she laughing like that?"

"I don't know! I cut her... well, I guess she cut herself... with that dagger," Draco pointed at the bloodstained dagger that lay on the floor, "and now she's doing that!"

"It..." Basil began, between her laughs, "I'm as... good... as dead!"

"It was only a little cut!" Draco protested.

"You... don't under...stand..." Basil continued. Others had appeared on deck (about 15 people had survived the battle, including Ginny, Harry, Ron and Akakios). They watched Basil suspiciously, hands on the hilts of their swords, just in case. "That blade... is..." Basil broke off into another fit of laughter. Even the wind seemed to be hanging on her every word. "I... used that blade... it's... poisoned."

**A/N: Hi again guys! Told you this would be a regular thing- though I might not post next week (or maybe it'll be on Thursday instead), since I've got an Operation in the Hospital, and I'll be drugged up and numb for the rest of the day.**

**What did you think about this cliffhanger? Do you think the fact that Basil's dagger being poisoned will change the future of this story? Do you think she's even telling the truth? Also, what was your favourite part of this chapter? I'm assuming that if I ask you guys questions, you might answer them in the reviews. Come on, guys! I know you're reading this, I can see the views! And you don't even have to log in or anything!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15- In which Draco accidentally joins another life-or-death mission, just after finishing the last one

**Warning: There is a mild description of blood/gore at the end of this chapter. If you want to avoid it, it starts with 'The stench of blood' and ends with 'dripping'. (I'd say you can miss this chapter out, most of it is re-cap, but there is a very important plot point at the very end of the chapter you'll need to read!)**

Everybody was sat, exhausted on the deck. It has been cleaned up, the dead bodies of Basil's men tossed overboard, and their own (luckily, few) dead placed respectfully in the hold, to be returned to their families at some point. Some people had started to mop up the blood using seawater, but eventually decided that they were too exhausted, and wanted to take a break. Draco sat with his back against the mast, knees drawn up against his chest. He stared off into the horizon, though he wasn't looking at anything in particular. He was drawn from his moping when Hermione sat down next to him, and patted him on the shoulder in an awkward attempt to comfort him.

"How are you holding up, Mr. Malfoy? I know you said she didn't hurt you, but..." Hermione sighed. She looked down at a red-stained cloth that hung limply from her hand. Wrapped carefully inside was the dagger that Basil Izk claimed was poisoned. Shortly after the woman had gone crazy, Hermione had picked it up. When she'd seen it, Ginny had gasped, recognising it as the same blade Basil used against her. The girl had been in a dark mood ever since, refusing to admit there might be something wrong. "Physical pain isn't the only pain out there. I wanted to keep you away from it, I knew it would end up like this, or at least something would go wrong. And I know it's none of my business, and I shouldn't be sheltering you or anything, but..." Her train of thought was broken when she saw Harry, Ron and Ginny coming up from the hold. "Harry! Did she..."

"We handcuffed her up, there's no way of escaping for her." Harry reported, though he looked troubled.

"She still hasn't stopped laughing. I think she's officially lost it." Ron added. "Where's her dagger?"

"I've wrapped it up in this piece of cloth." Hermione said, holding up the bundle of cloth to show them. "I'm thinking we should keep it out of everybody's reach, and then give it to Dumbledore."

"Do you think she was telling the truth?" Ron asked. "Do you think it's really..." He trailed off, glancing at Ginny.

"Of course it isn't!" Ginny interrupted bitterly. "She was just lying to get under our skin!" Her mood worsened when her three friends looked at her sympathetically. "It's not poisoned! I'm not poisoned! I don't feel any different, so stop looking at me as though you're all planning my funeral!"

"Ginny..." Hermione said, looking away. "We don't know she's lying for sure. It could be a slow-acting poison..."

"Or she could be lying about it." Ginny's eyes flashed.

"If she was lying about it," Harry said calmly, though he was anything but. "She wouldn't have let us lock her up so easily. If she thought she was going to live, then she would have fought."

"Or she could be lulling you into thinking she's harmless now." Ginny retorted, crossing her hands. "I don't trust her."

"Neither do I." Said Ron. "But if she isn't lying... We can't take that chance Ginny! You agreed that was the blade she cut you with, earlier. And she said it was poisoned. If it isn't, then great! But if it is, you could die."

"If it is, we'll find the cure." Harry said, looking away from them all. "Every poison has to have a cure, right, Hermione?"

Hermione pretended to ignore his question. "We should get back to Curase as soon as possible. A lot of your crew are injured, Harry, and we only have resources to keep them going, not to fix their injuries."

Harry paused for a second, understanding what Hermione was implying. "Okay. We'll... What the fuck?" He'd looked up, purely by chance, and seen the damage Draco and Basil had done to his ship during the fight. One side of his rigging was cut (half dangling from the crow's nest, the other half probably floating in the sea), and there was a large rip in the mainsail. "The rigging! More importantly, the sail!" Everybody else looked up, and groaned. "We can't go anywhere with the sail like this! Who did this?"

Draco looked around innocently, then gulped. "Basil Izk did it."

"And the rigging?"

"...Basil Izk did that too."

* * *

Eventually, they came across the black sails that Basil had carried out of the chamber. After a bit of work, they were able to take down Harry's ripped sail, and replace it with the black sails from the cave. While they did that, Morgan, Hermione, Will and Draco worked on putting the stones back up on the cave wall to hide it again- well, Morgan, Hermione and Will put them back, Draco held up a torch so they could see, and complained that his arm felt numb. Harry decided that there was no point in changing the rigging; they could use the other, not cut, one, and get it fixed when they arrived back at Curase.

The journey back to Curase was quick, and quiet. Nobody seemed to want to talk, all of them apprehensive about whether Basil Izk's dagger was poisoned or not. It took just over a day, and they arrived at Curase, the island where the Burrow was, just before 5 o'clock. The anchor was dropped, and Harry told his crew that they could do what they wanted ("I'd recommend you went to Poppy's, though, especially with your leg, Derrick.").

Hermione had been down to interrogate Basil Izk, and when Harry called her up, she came up in a huff. "She's stopped laughing, finally, but she won't say a word! We need this information, Harry."

"I know we do." Harry said. "Don't worry, Dumbledore will know what to do. We should probably leave a guard here to watch her, though... Mark!" Harry called to one of the men who hadn't left the ship yet, who was tying his shoelace. "Mark, you weren't injured too heavily during the battle, do you think you could stay back and guard Basil Izk until me and everybody else have fetched Dumbledore?"

"Sure thing, Captain." Mark said, though he didn't look too pleased about it.

"Ah, Miss Hermione!" Hermione turned at the sound of Akakios's voice, and nodded. "Don't you think there should be two to stay behind, just in case?"

"That's a good idea, Akakios." Hermione said, smiling warmly. "I suppose that means your volunteering?"

"I wasn't hurt at all during the battle, Captain." Akakios said in a way of confirmation. "And I don't have any pressing matter to leave the ship on."

"Okay then... Mr. Malfoy?" Draco looked at her when she called out to him. "Would you like to come with us, or..."

"I'll come." Draco agreed. "I don't want to stay here a minute longer."

"Thanks mate." Harry commented dryly.

"Ah, no offense."

"Talking of the ship," Ron added, "we need to find a guy to fix the rigging for us."

"Yeah. Basil Izk really did a number on it." Ginny said. "I just don't get why she did that."

"Who knows, she's crazy!" Draco said, slightly too loudly. "We should go tell Dumbledore about what happened."

"Okay, then, we're off. We won't be too long!" Harry called back to Akakios and Mark as they walked down the gangplank, and up towards the Burrow, picking up interested members of Hermione's crew who wanted to find out what happened on the way.

* * *

"Ginny!" Molly cried out, rushing forward as the Burrow's doors opened. She enveloped her daughter in a tight bear hug, weeping as Ginny awkwardly patted her mother's back. "I was so worried about you! Kidnapped! By Basil Izk! Oh, what if you'd been hurt? What if you'd died- oh!"

"It's okay Mum." Ginny got out in gasps of breath. "I'm fine. I'm okay."

"Are you hurt?" Molly asked, withdrawing sharply from her daughter to spin her around and assess her for injuries. She saw the white bandage on Ginny's hand. "You are hurt! What happened?"

"Nothing, Mum, we're fine! No need to worry about us!" Said a mischievous voice from the door to the rickety stairs Draco had yet to see up. Two more ginger boys appeared there, as if from nowhere, grinning cheekily. _God,_ Draco thought, _how many children did this woman have?_

Molly let go of Ginny to turn and look at the two new arrivals. "You two! Don't you care that your sister almost died?"

"Aw, come on Mum, it's not like she'd actually have kicked the bucket." The other one (at least, Draco guessed it was the other one) replied. "Have a little more faith in her!"

"Hey Ginny." The first one greeted, and walked over to her to give her a one-armed rough squeeze around her shoulders. "When we stopped here a couple of nights ago, and Mum told us you'd been brutally captured and thrown into a snake pit, so we figured we'd stay for a while and see if you made it out alive."

"I managed to snake out of that one, don't worry." Ginny grinned, and the twins laughed loudly. Ginny walked a bit further into the Inn, and the others were able to come in. The two new faces looked at Draco with interest.

"Who do we have here then?" One of them said.

"This is Draco Malfoy." Hermione said, pushing Draco forward like he was a 5 year-old on their first day of school, and she was the mother who couldn't wait to finally have a day to herself. "Due to... circumstances, he's been sailing with us, until he can find a way home."

Draco looked at her, half embarrassed at being treated like a child, and half offended. "Circumstances? You blew up my father's ship!"

The twins laughed. Draco smiled warily. One of them patted him on the shoulder. "I like you. I'm George-"

"And I'm Fred." The other one- Fred- finished, tipping his head a little.

"What?" Hermione said, scrunching her nose up. "You two are pretending to be each other again, aren't you."

"What? We aren't!" The twins said together innocently.

"Yes, you are." Hermione shook her head, smiling. "You look similar, but your noses are slightly different. And George is taller."

Fred- or was it George?- pouted. Draco looked at his nose, but couldn't tell a difference. "You're no fun."

Meanwhile, Molly was still fussing over Ginny's bandaged hand. "It's nothing, it's just a cut, Mum." Ginny sighed. "Honestly, I'm okay." She caught Hermione's gaze. "Honestly, I am!"

"So, did everything go according to plan?" Dumbledore asked, and everybody looked over at him. He was sat alone at a table, McGonagall nowhere to be seen. The rest of the Inn was empty, the chairs stacked up against the tables.

"There was a plan?" Draco asked. As far as he was aware, the only plan they had was 'go there and don't die'. Hermione groaned, but Dumbledore just laughed.

"No, not in the general sense." He said. "Now, why doesn't everybody grab a seat, and we can talk about what happened?"

They all sat in a circle around one of the larger tables (with those who couldn't fit sitting at other tables near to the main one). Molly brought in quickly-made sandwiches, and a large jug of water, making sure that Ginny had a lot of food. Most of them politely nibbled at the food, but they were more invested in listening and telling the story (Fred and George, however, dug into their food with no inhibitions, fully capable of eating and listening at the same time).

"...But when I saw that Basil was on the ship, I got worried about Hermione," Ginny explained, "I didn't want her to get hurt, or worse. So I headed back to the beach to find her-"

"You owe me six silver pieces." One of the pirates whispered to the person sitting next to him. The person cursed, and began digging in their pockets. They stopped moving and looked sheepish when Molly glared at them.

"And then I went into the jungle, but I found Basil Izk instead. Well, I kind of ran into her. And she hit me over the head with her gun. When I woke up, I was in the hold of her ship. My foot was cuffed to a small railing. At first, I tried to escape. I found a small piece of wire in one of my pockets and picked the lock."

"Atta girl!" Fred and George called out in unison. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Then I ran up the stairs, which I... didn't really think through. It was... loads of people, against me, and I didn't have any weapons. They quickly knocked me out again and put me back there, but they also handcuffed my hands behind my back. About once a day, they brought down a drink for me, which they held up to my mouth. They brought food, as well, but just put in front of me and laughed." Ginny's tone was bitter. "They kept saying they wouldn't bother to give me water, but Basil Izk wanted me alive. I didn't know why. And then, one day, she came down to me, and had one of the men unlock my leg. I immediately scrambled to my feet and tried to run, but... it's like she knew I'd do it. She grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back, and then hit me over the head... not hard enough to make a mark, but hard enough to hurt. She told me 'to stay by her side and do what she said to'. I didn't have any other choice." Ginny shivered. "She walked me up the stairs. Before we left, she pulled a dagger out of her pocket and held it up against my back. Then somebody handed me a torch, and Basil told me I needed to hold it up so that I could see, and that if I tripped, or stumbled, or anything, she would gut me like a pig." There were small bursts of outrage, which were hushed when Dumbledore motioned for Ginny to go on. "We went into the cave... She kept pounding onto the ground. And then she turned to the right, and said that there was a room behind it. I don't know how she knew. She let me go, and told me to figure out a way to get in. I tried to open it, I really did. But I couldn't see an entrance at all. I told her, and all she said was, 'figure something out.' She said there had to be an entrance there, so somewhere in the cave was a way of opening it. There was... strange, golden writing on the wall, and when I told her that she sounded really excited, told me to read it out loud. So I did, the best I could, though it was in some strange language. And when I finished, she repeated it out loud, but in English."

"What did she say?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Hermione you know what it said, you translated it yourself!" Harry said, almost laughing at her.

"Yeah, but Basil Izk seems to have such a better grasp of Nahuatl." Hermione said defensively.

"I was going to tell you anyway." Ginny said. "She said 'Behind this door lies a friend, a traveler, a merchant, a foe of death, and his hidden treasure. Only those who pay the toll and prove themselves worthy may enter his chamber of secrets.'"

"I liked your version better, Hermione." Ron supplied. "It flowed better."

"That's a more accurate translation, though..."

"So, Basil realised what we... she had to do. She pounded her staff again and then she walked me over to a part of the wall. She turned me around and made me put my hand over a piece of the rock. Then she took her dagger and cut my hand with it. I don't really understand how it worked, but when my blood went on the rock, the wall sort of... collapsed. And then Basil and I went through, and three of her men, who'd followed us into the cave stayed behind to put the wall back up. Then... we waited. Neither of us spoke, we didn't do anything, we just waited. Then we heard you guys coming in."

"Thank you, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore said when Ginny had finished. "I'm sure that that was very hard for you. You are incredibly brave."

"It wasn't anything big." Ginny replied. "Mostly I just sat there. It's not like I got hurt or anything."

"But what about the cut, Ginny..."

"I told you to shut up about that. She was lying." Ginny said harshly, before Harry could finish his sentence. She stood and smacked her hands against the table to emphasise her point.

"What was Basil Izk lying about?" Dumbledore asked. "I think we need to learn the rest of the story." Reluctantly, Ginny sat back down.

Hermione told the rest, explaining how Draco had gone below deck, and she, Harry, Ron, and the two members of their crew went into the cave. She didn't go into much detail about the battle, only the moments where she sent Draco up the rigging, and the moment where Basil had fallen to the deck. She explained how they'd boarded the Diary, and fought on it. "When we heard the gunshots, and we realised that Basil Izk was still alive, I... panicked. I remembered that we'd left Draco on the ship alone, and let's face it, it's a miracle he hadn't died yet that day. Everybody was confused, and Harry took that moment of opportunity to push one of Basil's men off the helm and then he crashed the ship into a rock. Then we launched one of her few rowing boats and headed back for the Chosen Boat. When we got there, I was the first up and on deck. Draco was there, backed up against the mast, and she was just stood there, laughing. She'd accidentally cut herself with it, and she said... she said it was poisoned."

"Poison!" Molly gasped, and Ginny sighed deeply.

"We locked her up in the hold." Harry finished. "But she didn't put up a lot of resistance. She said it would kill her. And..." He looked at Ginny, who turned away from him. "She said it was the same dagger she used on Ginny."

There were several more outbursts of anger, as well as shock and fear. Mrs Weasley put her head in her hands, moaning. Fred and George stopped eating, slowly putting their fourth helpings back down onto the plate.

Ginny stood up again and said loudly, "We don't know if it's true! She was probably lying!"

"We don't know that for sure either!" Hermione snapped. "That dagger could be poisoned! And if it is, you're going to die!" Her voice trembled at the last word.

"This is troubling news," Dumbledore said, calming everybody slightly with his level tone. "It's good that we're slowly destroying Voldemort's new fleet," many around the table flinched at the name of the Dark Pirate Lord, "and that we captured one of his most trusted followers, but this poison business is very tricky. Do you happen to have this dagger with you?"

Hermione nodded, pulling the bundle of cloth out of her pocket.

"Good. We'll take it to Poppy." Dumbledore decided. "She's very knowledgeable on the subject of poisons, and she will most likely know what type of poison it is... if the blade is poisoned." He added, seeing Ginny's face.

The young Weasley walked over to her mother and rubbed her back. "It's okay, Mum. I don't feel any different; that wasn't poisoned, I'm sure of it."

* * *

Barely three minutes later, Draco and most of the others (Harry, Dumbledore, Ron, Fred and George), were in a large barn-sort of building. It was all mostly one room, lined with stainless white beds - some currently not so stainless, as the rest of Harry's crew were lying in them and bleeding all over them - and a curtained-off corner that Draco didn't want to look behind, judging by the smell of blood and vomit that wafted from it. McGonagall, it turned out, had gone to visit the owner of this barn-turned-hospital, and was now helping to take care of the patients as the owner, a woman named Poppy Pomfrey, sorted out the poisoned dagger. Draco stood between Ginny and Hermione, as Hermione handed over the dagger to Poppy.

She was an old, thin woman, with curly grey hair that was hidden by a white bonnet, and when she spoke her voice was calm, but firm. "I'll have to test it, but from the colour of the blade, it is most likely poisoned."

"The colour of the blade?" Ginny scoffed. "Miss Pomfrey, that's just blood!"

"I'm not talking about the blood." Poppy replied in a level voice. "The metal has a slight purple tinge to it, a characteristic of many blades infused with a deadly poison."

Ginny turned pale. "No. No, I can't have been... It couldn't have been poisoned..." Fred and George led her over to an empty bed, where she sat down with a heavy thump. Her eyes were distant.

"I'll do some tests, see if I can figure out what the poison is, which could give us the cure, but it would save us a lot of time if you could ask the person who owned the blade." Poppy continued, looking sympathetic.

"We will." Harry said. "Come on Ron, Hermione." He headed for the door, Hermione inviting Draco to come with them with a wave of her hand. The blonde quickly followed them.

* * *

Outside, Lei, who was sitting outside of a pub playing some form of card game (and winning, according to the large pile of silver and gold coins beside him). He saw his Captain and her friends walking past, towards the docks, shoved the coins into his pocket and ran after them.

"Captain!" Lei called, running up to them with a large grin on his face. "You're back! Did everything go okay?"

"Hello Lei." Hermione said, returning his smile in a friendly manner. "Yes. A couple of people died, some are injured, but... We got Ginny. That's what's important. And we've got Basil Izk locked up in the hold."

"That's great! Hello Draco." Lei added, and Draco nodded at him. The evening was shaping up to be a nice one. The sky was a brilliant shade of pink, and there only a couple of fluffy, purple clouds obscuring it. A few small fishing boats were out on the sea, but most of them were heading in for the night. The heat of the day had cooled down into a comforting temperature that felt as warm as a blanket on a winter night. Draco yawned. As they walked towards the ship, Ron waved to a couple of the fisherman (who were tying up their boats) in a neighborly fashion, and they waved back, asking about his family, and how he was doing.

"So, where are you going now, Captain?" Lei asked.

"Basil Izk knows something we need to know, and we're going to make her tell us." Harry said in a dark, cryptic tone. Lei looked at him oddly, but didn't prod anybody for more information.

They approached the boat and climbed up the gangplank in a determined manner, Draco slipping a nervous and guilty glance at the rigging as they went towards the steps that descended below deck- Harry, Ron and Hermione going first, Draco following them, and Lei making up the rear.

The stench of blood hit Draco's nose before he saw what had happened, and the sight made him gag.

"Oh God!" Hermione choked out, terrified horror controlling her voice. "Akakios!"

Basil Izk had somehow escaped. She'd slit Mark's throat, and pinned Akakios to the wall with his own blade. A pool of blood gathered beneath him, the chest wound still dripping.

Draco backed up the stairs, forcing Lei to walk backwards too, and when they emerged into the open air Draco bent over and retched.

"What happened?" Lei asked, having not seen what Draco had. Draco shook his head, not able to speak. The warm evening air suddenly felt suffocating.

Hermione, Harry and Ron emerged from below deck, their faces stony. Ron scanned the boat, then looked down at the sea. He noticed a single fishing boat heading away from the harbour. "That bitch!" He cursed lowly. "She's taken a fishing boat, she's probably going back to Voldemort right now."

"Captain?" Lei asked, looking confused.

"We follow her." Harry said. "We take a boat and we follow her. We'll get her to tell us about the poison, and maybe we'll even discover Voldemort's lair at the same time."

"Poison?" Lei echoed, looking worried.

"We need to take a disguise." Hermione added. "That way we won't be noticed as much, and we'll be able to spy on them. Possibly figure out what exactly Voldemort's planning..."

"Captain, what's going on?"

"We'll need to find a way to catch Basil Izk off guard." Harry said. "We need to find out about the poison. We need to go right away."

"You're right." Hermione said, and looked briefly at Lei. "Lei, I need you to go up to Poppy's for me, and tell them we'll be back by tomorrow afternoon, Thursday at the latest."

"Captain, where are you going?" Lei asked.

"We're following Basil Izk, wherever she's going." Ron said.

"I thought you said you had her locked up!"

"She escaped." Hermione said. "And killed two people to do it... Including Aka."

"No..." Lei shook his head disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry." Harry consoled him, patting him on the shoulder. "But we don't have time for this. I'm grabbing four hoods from my room and then we're out of here. We don't want to loose track of her."

"Four?" Draco said, his voice sounding stuffy.

"You're coming with us, Malfoy." Ron said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Come on, let's go get that bitch!"

* * *

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I didn't update last week, after all, but at least I gave you some warning! Talking of warning, I updated the last chapter to include a warning for violence, because of the battle, and I'm going to update the first chapter to include a warning for violence.**

**What did you guys think? This is the first time I've ever seriously written Fred and George, so I'm a bit nervous about it. Do you think I've written them okay, or is there any criticisms you can think of? Also, what did you think of the death of Akakios? Did you see it coming, or did it catch you completely off-guard?**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16- In which Draco visits Knocturn Island

**Warning: There are mentions of blood and violence at the beginning of this chapter, ending with the sentence '"Thanks for the keys."', if you want to avoid it for reasons. Happy reading!**

Basil felt the rocking of the ship, though it seemed to have stopped moving. Perhaps they had arrived at their destination? Her hysteria had faded several hours ago, and now all that remained was the knowledge that she would most likely be tortured for information, or killed.

She had to find a way to escape.

She had to get back to Voldemort.

Several times during the voyage back to Curase (Basil had guessed that it would be their destination), the girl with the frizzy hair (the wimp had called her Hermione), and two boys who she had sensed during the cave- a ginger kid, and a boy with glasses- had been down to 'visit' her, to question her on her poisoned blade. She hadn't said a word, and they didn't press her, or threaten her. Perhaps they were too cowardly, too weak to torture her... But in Curase, there would be at least one older member of the Order of the Phoenix who wouldn't be afraid, wouldn't be cowardly. And she had to leave before they bled the information out of her.

Basil heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She tensed. Surely they hadn't been there long enough to find a Phoenix member... Surely she had more time... She heard the voices, and relaxed slightly. They sounded friendly, conversational, and she guessed that they were simply people that Frizz, Glasses and Ginger had appointed to guard her until they could find one of their associates.

She thought back to the events during the cave. Why hadn't she just killed Frizz and Wimp then? Why hadn't she stalked over to them as soon as her staff had shown them to her, and stabbed them, shot them, sliced their necks open? Then she wouldn't have been captured... and she wouldn't have stabbed herself with her poisoned blade. How could I have been so stupid?

She had to get away.

"Excuse me?" She called out, trying to make her voice more scared, more humble than she felt. She could feel the room tense, though without her staff she couldn't sense anything, couldn't 'see' like she normally could. That made her helpless, as far as she was concerned. "Excuse me, please could I have my staff back? I... I need it to see, I can't see without it. I'm blind, you know. The staff is magic... it helps me. Please, I can't see. I don't like it. Please..." She cut off her words with a sob, hoping it sounded real. She supposed, if her humble act had caught Wimp off-guard, it would catch her guard off-guard as well. There was a murmur of whispers between two people, and then she heard somebody walk towards her, though they kept your distance.

"We checked your staff. There's no hidden blade or anything." A Greek voice said. "Why do you want it?"

"I told you, to see!" She quickly pulled tears to her eyes. "I'm blind. I can't see. I don't know what's happening around me, do you know how that feels? I'm..." God, she was glad nobody she knew was there to hear the final piece of her lie. "I'm scared."

"It hasn't got a blade in it or anything. It won't make her a threat. I think we should do it." The Greek voice said to the other person. "It's not like she can use it to escape."

More footsteps, and then she got the idea that the Greek person was standing over her, putting her staff into her hands. She gently pushed it to the ground, in a non-threatening manner. She needed them to be trusting of her for just a few more minutes...

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "Thank you so much."

"It's alright." The Greek person said. "You know, you seem... different than how you were two days ago."

"I'm going to die." She said quietly, like it was almost to herself. "That blade is poisoned. I'm going to die. That would make anybody re-evaluate themselves."

"So Miss Ginny is going to die as well?" The Greek person sounded sad. Aww, did he like her?

"I'm sorry." Basil wasn't sorry. "I only did what I was told to do." She'd done what she wanted, for the most part, and loved every minute of it. "I hate that I've caused so much pain."

"Who told you to do that? Was it... him?" Basil wanted to laugh. The guy couldn't even say the Dark Pirate Lord's name out loud! "Miss, if you regret what you did, you could... switch sides. Be useful to Miss Hermione and her friends. Tell them what you know..."

"Do you really think so?" Basil looked up, tears in her eyes, making a hopeful smile. "Do you think I could make it up to them?"

"I do."

"Then... Then I'd like to tell them all I know." Basil said. "Everything. Please, could you take me to them?"

The Greek man drew back, and Basil cursed in her head. "No." He sounded mistrusting. Basil cursed again. "Miss Hermione told us to wait for her and Dumbledore to return."

Dumbledore! The memory of his bird making her blind flashed through Basil's thoughts, and she bared her teeth. She quickly whimpered, making it seem like a grimace of pain, instead of anger.

"Are you okay?"

"I-It's the poison." She gasped. "It's already... working. Please... I'm going to die. Soon. Within a couple of... minutes. I could d-die, before I told them what I know! You need to t-take me, I don't want to die a villain!"

"I..." The Greek person sounded conflicted. "I don't... Mark? What do you think?"

The jangle of keys was Mark's answer. "Unlock the handcuffs, just for a second. Then we'll lock her back up once she's stood up."

"Don't attack us, though. If you try anything, we'll have to leave you here to die." The Greek man warned.

"Oh, I won't. Th-Thank you so much!" Basil flashed a charming, grateful smile in the Greek person's general direction. This was easier than I thought!

The Greek person moved around to behind her, and she heard the sound of keys turning in the lock. She sat still, patiently. He moved, and unlocked her other hand. Basil quickly scrambled up.

"Ah, Miss, careful!" The Greek person warned. "Don't panic."

She didn't even need to pound her staff. She charged at the Greek person, following his voice, avoiding the pillar she had been handcuffed around. She headbutted him, and he sank to his knees, groaning. A quick pound of her staff showed her all she needed to know to gain a weapon. She reached down and pulled the Greek's sword out of his scabbard, thrusting the sword through his chest and pinning him to the wooden walls. The Greek let out a gasping shout.

She turned and dodged the attack the other guard- Mark- aimed for her, then she ran to the Hoard and grabbed a slightly rusty dagger from the top. She waited for the guard to make another angry charge for her, and when he did, she side-stepped it, and then pulled his back closer to her. "Thanks for the keys." She whispered in his ear, before she slit his throat. And then she was up the stairs, climbing them two at a time, well aware from her staff that there was nobody else on the ship.

Down off the ship, onto the dock. Another pound of the staff showed her that there were many fishing ships tied up next to the dock, unwatched, that would be easy for her to sail on her own. She climbed into the first one she got to, using the rusty blade to cut the rope that tied it to the docks. She opened the sails and set off in the direction she knew Knocturn Island was from Curase's dock, hoping she was right. No, she was. She would have to be. She'd lied about the poison being so fast-acting, but that didn't mean she had all the time in the world.

And she had to get back to Voldemort before she died.

Around an hour after she had set off on the boat, Basil began to slightly regret killing both of her guards. They could see, after all, and she could have used them to navigate to Knocturn Island. There was only so much you could do going off intuition and memory. Though the staff enabled her to see outlines and most of the things that surrounded her, it was useless when she was on the sea. All she could 'see' was the boat, and everything in the boat. She couldn't 'see' whether it was night, or day, whether she was near land or not, or what direction she was headed in. For all she knew, she could be heading back towards the Chamber of Secrets.

Then there was a thump, and the boat rocked perilously. Basil started, but didn't scream, out of pride. Something had jumped down and landed on the deck of the boat. "Who goes there?" Basil asked, her voice ringing out in the quiet.

For a moment, there was nothing. All she could hear was quiet, raspy breathing. And then a cold, chilling voice spoke stiffly. "Who are you, and what is your business here?"

Basil almost sighed with relief. It was just one of the Dementors- people native to Knocturn Island, who had had a bad history with the British Navy and always stopped boats that came near the island to make sure they had no connection to the colonials. "My name is Basil Izk, I am a follower of the Dark Pirate Lord, Voldemort. I come here to see him, as I know he stays here now, and wish to update him upon his fight against the British Navy." Now, the British Navy part wasn't exactly true, but Voldemort had decided that if they said they shared a common enemy, the Dementors would be more accommodating. A very clever ploy, and it had worked, too.

"I remember you." The Dementor said. "You are the blind one."

"Yes." Basil said, suppressing her irritation at the blatant comment.

"Why do you travel alone? You will not be able to dock this boat, if you cannot see."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do." Basil snarled, but quickly schooled her tone. "I apologise. My sight is a... poor subject for me. I would... appreciate it if you... assisted me in docking the boat, so that I could go and see My Lord."

"I shall accompany you." The Dementor agreed. They spent the rest of the ride to the island. Basil occupied her time imagining the view she would be able to see, if she could see. She'd been here before Dumbledore's bird had blinded her, so she knew the view quite well.

She imagined the tall imposing walls of the cliffs, black and grey and jagged, and the tiny wicker baskets that made the watch towers the Dementors often stayed in. She could hear the sea lapping against the rocks. Knockturn Alley had been chosen by the British Forces as a dockyard and training base for a very specific reason- the island was several miles above sea level. On top of that, the island had two inroads from the sea, surrounded by tall cliffs, which meant that it was incredibly easy to see if anybody was trying to approach the base from the sea. Pirates had only been able to take over the base because they had conspired with the Dementors, and promised them their freedom. To their credit, the pirates had kept their promise, which they didn't have to. In return, the Dementors allowed many pirates to stay in the now-abandoned training building for days at a time, to use it as a sort of black market or homestead.

And currently, it was Voldemort's base.

The rest of the journey took an eternity, or possibly a couple of seconds. Basil could never be sure of the time. When they docked at one of the docks (there were two, one on each mouth to the sea), the Dementor gave her an unwelcoming welcome to Knocturn Island, and told her that the boat would be there for when she returned. "You can keep it." Basil said confidently. "Voldemort will give me a new ship."

"Just in case." The Dementor said, and then he must have left to go back to his post, because Basil couldn't hear him anymore. She stepped out of the boat, and tapped her staff onto the ground. Immediately, the world returned to her. Voldemort was inside the large training building, sat in the room everybody had nicknamed the 'map room', upstairs, three doors to the left. Feeling both anxious and excited, Basil began the short walk towards the room.

* * *

Draco screamed when the... _thing_ dropped down onto the deck of their small fishing boat. He hadn't been expecting it at all, and the thing was quite terrifying. Dressed in ragged, grey, faded clothes and so thin they looked like a skeleton, the person didn't look like a person at all. Their eyes were sunken into their skull, and their voice was bone-shaking. They sounded angry. "Remove your hoods, and tell me who you are, and your business here."

Draco squeaked. Luckily, he didn't have to do the talking. Hermione took a couple of steps forward, and said in a level voice, "We would prefer to remain anonymous."

"Why? State your reasons."

"We're here to track down a person who did us wrong." Hermione said. "They poisoned our friend, and have yet to tell us a cure." Draco wasn't sure if it was wise for her to tell them about Ginny, but he wasn't going to say anything. The person looked like they would be able to rip him limb from limb if Draco said something wrong. "So we came here to learn the cure."

"And why do you wish to remain anonymous?"

"They have many allies here. As long as we wear our cloaks, we'll still have the element of surprise, and then we might be able to get the information we need without being hurt."

The skeleton-person paused, as if thinking through the situation. "What is your relationship to the British Navy?"

Draco thought that that was a strange question to ask, but Hermione took it in her stride. "We aim for a free sea, sir, without oppression from anybody, including the British Navy."

The person looked at her approvingly, then smiled. "I grant you passage into Knocturn Island, and agree to keep your identities anonymous, strangers. I will accompany you to the dock."

"We thank you." Harry said, nodding his head at the skeleton-man.

As the small rowing boat continued down the path, Draco looked up at the tall, imposing cliffs, and leant over to Hermione.

"Who's the walking skeleton?" He asked under his breath.

The skeleton-man looked back.

Hermione drew a sharp breath. The skeleton-man watched Draco for a couple more minutes, and then faced forward again. "A Dementor." Hermione explained in the most audible whisper she could. "The people native to this island. They guard it, to make sure that none of the British Navy get in... or any other countries navy, for that matter."

"Why? What's so bad about the British Navy?"

"… Let's discuss this at a later time, shall we?" Hermione said, her voice slightly shrill. "When we... aren't here."

Draco nodded, though he didn't understand why she was so worried. The skeleton-man - Dementor - looked scary, but he didn't seem to have any weapons. He was harmless. Then Draco saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up at the cliffs to his right. A thousand faces looked back at him from wicker huts, that looked just as skeleton-like as the man who stood a couple of feet away from him. Draco swallowed. The Dementor didn't need a weapon. There were thousands of people up there just waiting for Draco to make a wrong move. Draco wasn't sure what they would do when he did, but imagining it made him shiver.

For the rest of the journey, Draco sat as still as he could, staring straight forward and not moving his line of sight. He was overly conscious of every small movement he made, and the number of eyes watching him. When the boat hit the dock, and rocked slightly from the small impact, Draco almost jumped out of his skin. Harry and the skeleton-man got out first, tying the boat to the dock. The others stepped out after them, Hermione holding her hand out to Draco to make sure he didn't slip on the slimy wood.

Ron pointed, and Draco followed his finger to a large building, made mostly of wood and steel. A figure who walked a bit like Basil Izk was approaching the doors. "There she is."

"What now?" Harry asked, thanking the skeleton-man a final time as he walked away. "Do we follow her in?"

"The building's too large, we won't catch her in time." Hermione murmured. "But we don't know what room she's going to, so we can't just look at the window."

"Do we know who she's going to see? You could look in the windows and see where that person is." Draco suggested, feeling a bit more comfortable now that they were on the island, and he didn't feel so closed in.

"She's going to see Voldemort, probably." Hermione said. "But that doesn't mean we'll be able to see..."

"Excuse me!" Draco called out to a suspicious looking bald person who was stood by a small table. On the table were a collection of dusty mirrors. "Um, would you happen to know which room... Voldemort is staying in, up there, please?" He said Voldemort in a slightly French accent, missing out the 't'.

"Draco!" Hermione hissed.

"This place a bit posh fer you, innit, kid?" Said the person mockingly, his pitch shifting up and down. "Why you lookin' for the Dark Pirate Lord, now, kid?" The way he said pirate sounded weird, like he was saying payrot instead.

"Well," Draco began, as though he'd thought this all out. "It's the stupidest thing- do you have somewhere to be, or can I tell you the whole thing?"

"I got all the time in the world, sonny, if you be looking at me merchandise while you talk."

"Okay," Draco took a deep breath, his eyes briefly looking over an oval mirror. "So, I am the son of this successful sea merchant, and my father sent me off on one of his ships to gain experience. It was all going well, and then I was kidnapped by pirates, who said they were going to hold me for ransom! I was only just able to escape! And I remember overhearing my father talking to somebody about a man named Voldemort, and something about a place called Knocturn Island, so I paid a couple of fisherman-" Draco jerked a thumb at Hermione, Ron and Harry, "- to bring me here. I'm sure that if I meet this man, he will be able to organize a way for me to get home."

"In a bit over your depth, ain't you, kid?" The man ran a grubby finger through his greasy hair.

Draco smiled nervously. "I am in a bit of a pickle, I agree. But if I can just find this man Voldemort, this ordeal will be over."

The man looked carefully at Draco, trying to see under his hood. "Wha' kind of a... gentleman, would I be if I didn't help a kid in trouble?" He smiled. "I'll take you right to him, kid."

"Ah, no." Draco took a step back, fear flashing across his face. "Just directions, would be fine."

"No, I insist." The man reached forward to grab Draco's shoulders, and Draco leaned away. "A pretty boy like you could get hurt, walkin' around alone like this. Come with me, nice and easy, and-"

"I said I didn't want to!" Draco snapped crossly, slapping the man's hand away. "All I need you to do is tell me where Voldemort is, so I can go home!"

"Oi!" Harry called out, rushing forward and pulling Draco away. His voice was deeper than normal, so deep it sounded extremely fake. "This kid is telling the truth, mate, and from what I've heard his Pa's super rich, and super protective of his kid. He'd have you killed if anything happened to him, and'd prob'ly reward you for helping him. Me and my mates- this kid've promised us 100 gold pieces for brin'ing him here- what's a hundred more for you to tell him where to find his ride home, eh?" Harry chuckled nervously. "Now, we don't want you to leave your... shop open to robbery, we'll take 'im there ourselves."

The man looked briefly at Draco, a greedy glint in his eyes. Draco swallowed, and stood a little closer to Harry. Then the man put his hand back by his side, and nodded. "All right, it's up the stairs, third door on your left."

"Thanks, mate." Harry said, grabbing Draco's shoulder and walking him back to the others. His grip was like a metal vice, and Draco winced. When he got there, he told the others the directions. Hermione pointed to a window on the second floor, that looked rather large, and had a light glowing inside it. It was right next to a tree.

"I reckon that's the room... It might not be," Hermione warned, "but either way we'll get to the second floor." As they walked towards the large, imposing building, she made sure that Draco was standing between her and Harry, with Ron behind them. "Mr. Malfoy, that was a good idea, and it got us results, but never do anything like that again without talking us through it first."

"Okay." Draco said, still feeling the man watching them.

Somehow they were all able to climb up into the tree and look into the window, despite the fact that Draco had never climbed a tree before. The window was a bit grimy, but they were able to see through it.

"There's Voldemort." Harry whispered, pointing to one end of the room. A tall man was stood beside a table. "This is the right place." Draco leant forward, hands gripped tightly around the branch, to get a close look at the so-called Dark Pirate Lord.

The man was half-bent over the map, his dark, glossy hair the only thing Draco could see at first, wisps pushed back behind the man's ears. He pointed at an island that Draco almost vaguely recognised, his nails long and slightly blue. His skin was pale and thin, Draco could see veins pushing up against the surface. Overall, he looked a bit like a vampire, from where Draco was stood, and he was hit by a wave of revulsion. And then the man stood up, revealing his height, and his face, and Draco could understand why people would want to follow the man. His jawline was strong and chiseled, and his eyes were dark, and charming. They were enticing, but there was something about the way they shone that made Draco shiver. Voldemort brought up a chalice of greyish-purple liquid to his thin lips, and drank the whole thing in one gulp, thumping it back down onto the map. He said something that made a couple of the other people in the room laugh nervously. Draco was almost convinced the so-called Pirate Lord didn't have a nose, until he turned his head to the right to look at a young woman stood who stood next to him, a bored expression on her face. He said something to her; she replied and pursed her lips. Voldemort laughed, his lips curling slightly.

"Hey." Draco asked, frowning. "Who's that person next to Voldemort? She looks like Basil Izk, but she isn't, right?"

"No, I don't think she is." Ron agreed. "She looks too young." Basil arrived at the room at this moment, thumping the staff in front of her to make sure she was in the right room. Her eyes opened in what could have been surprise. "And besides, there she is." Harry inched forward and opened the latch on the top of the window so that they could hear. It opened with a quiet screech, but nobody below them seemed to notice.

"What are you doing here, Nagini?" Now that the window was open, they could hear everything that was being said. Draco realized that Basil and the girl- Nagini? - had to be related. Maybe Basil was Nagini's mother? Draco didn't really take her to be the maternal type.

"Basil!" The girl who stood next to Voldemort said. She smiled, though Draco couldn't tell whether she was happy or not. If she's calling Basil Izk by her first name, they can't be mother and daughter. Maybe sisters? Or aunt and niece? "You're back early."

Voldemort glanced over Basil's ragged, bloodstained clothes, and smiled. Draco wasn't sure if he meant the smile or not, either. "We didn't expect you back for at least another day. Are your crew bringing up what you fetched for me?"

Basil twisted her staff around in a circle inside her clutch. "… No. There were... complications."

"What kind of complications?" Voldemort's smile had gone.

Everybody listened silently as Basil explained what had happened, starting from when she had kidnapped the little boy from his village, until she had escaped from the Chosen Boat and stolen a fishing boat.

"So... you not only failed to get the Invincibility Sails, but you also lost one of my ships, didn't kill a lot of their crew and got yourself poisoned?" Voldemort's smile had been replaced with a frown. Draco wasn't sure whether it was made of concern or anger.

"Basil, how could you be so careless?" Nagini asked. Her brow was creased. Draco figured she would be worried, if Basil had gotten hurt.

"Don't worry, Nagini." Basil smiled. "I don't mind. I knew I'd have to die someday. I just knew I'd have to tell you what happened before I kicked the bucket."

"No, I mean how could you be so careless?" Nagini asked again, raising her voice. "They could have followed you!"

Voldemort nodded his head, glancing towards Nagini in... could that be appreciation? "That's true. A single fishing boat in the middle of the night? That would have been obvious, they'll have followed you right here. They know where we are, now!" Basil opened her mouth to speak. Voldemort thumped his hand on the table, and Basil stopped. "No, don't say anything more. This hideout was kept secret ever since I began my campaign, and now, after thirty years, you ruin it all! You used to be so powerful, so talented, but you're useless to me now. It's lucky I foresaw this, and already arranged your replacement."

For a few seconds, Basil didn't speak. When she did, her words were stiff with anger, and something else Draco couldn't place. "Who? Bellatrix?"

"No, you idiot. Me." Nagini said, rolling her eyes. "You really have lost your wits. Why would I be in here unless I agreed to help him? Did you think I was fetching him coffee?"

"Nagini, I told you that you weren't allowed-" Basil began, her fingers reaching for a gun she didn't have, the other hand clenched tightly around her staff.

"You have to admit," Voldemort said smoothly, "she was the best choice for your replacement. She's younger than you, she's clearly smarter than you, more ruthless than you... and she can still see."

Basil launched herself at Voldemort, a scream of fury leaving her lips as she threw her staff to the side and reached for his throat. The two of them fell to the floor, Voldemort hitting his head against the table as they descended. He tried to push her off, but her hands were gripped too tightly against his skin. She removed one of her hands from his throat, pushing the one that remained further against his neck. The other hand reached upward for the chalice resting innocently on the table. Then a loud bang ricocheted around the room, and Basil stopped moving. Nagini placed a smoking gun back into its holster on her hip, walked over to Voldemort, and pushed Basil off him roughly. She extended her hand to him, who took it and stood up.

"My Lord," Nagini said quietly, "I think it would be best if we left now. Dumbledore may already be here. We could stay and fight, if you wished, or we could seek a new headquarters, and re-group. Then we can attack Dumbledore with all of the fleet, destroy him in one shot."

"Re-grouping sounds like the best option. We'll sound the word when we've found an appropriate island." He looked down at Basil, his eyes narrowing in distaste. "It's a shame. I did like this island. It was very well defended." Voldemort raised his voice to order the rest of the people who were in the room, who had stayed very still, watching the fight. "Pack up only what you need, we leave now. We aren't leaving anything to chance."

Hermione, Harry and Ron shared a glance at each other, mouths open, but Draco couldn't stop looking at Basil. He found it strange that such a strong foe had been killed so easily. And by somebody she had apparently trusted, as well. As soon as Voldemort and his followers had left, Draco opened the window wider and dropped in.

"Draco!" Hermione hissed. "Come back!"

Draco waved his hand at her in a 'shoo' motion. "I'm just going to see if she's dead. She's good at playing dead."

Hermione sighed, and dropped down after him, Harry and Ron following behind her. They approached cautiously, hands already half-way to their swords. Draco had already reached Basil, who was lying, as though she was asleep, on her back. "Is she dead?"

Draco took Basil's hand softly, and searched for a pulse. He frowned. "Not quite."

The tall woman gave a dry chuckle. "Funny."

Draco jumped backwards as Basil lifted herself up onto her elbows. Hermione, Harry and Ron all drew their swords. "Make one wrong move and you really will be, Basil Izk!" Ron called out.

"Relax." Basil said gruffly. "Wimp, pass me my staff."

Draco pouted. "My name is Draco, not Wimp. I'm sure I told you that." All the same, he picked up Basil's staff and gave it to her. She held it tightly, using it to stand up. The clothes covering her right shoulder were stained with blood, and the stain was only getting bigger. "You're hurt!"

"No shit." Basil replied. "I might be blind, but I'm not stupid."

"I didn't mean that." Draco backtracked, and he looked at Hermione. "Granger, can't we help her?"

"Help? Why should we help her?" Ron asked angrily. "She's poisoned Ginny, and killed more people than I can count!"

"I don't need your help." Basil said at the same time as Ron, her voice filled with resentment. "I'm not some helpless turtle caught in a net that you can free in order to feel better about yourself."

"But what if the wound gets infected? You could die!" Draco protested, ignoring Ron's comment. He wasn't sure if he liked Basil, but he definitely felt sorry for her after what had just happened. Not that he would say that aloud. She didn't seem like the kind of person who liked being pitied.

"Wimp, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm going to die anyway." Basil said. She stepped towards the door, her walk lopsided.

"The poison..." Draco breathed.

"That's right, the poison, clever boy." Basil said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"About that!" Hermione said, stepping in front of Basil. "We need you to tell us what you poisoned the blade with."

"Get out of my way." Basil said, trying to thump her staff menacingly, but failing as it made her sway, and almost lose her balance.

"Not until you tell us what the poison was!" Hermione argued. "We need to know so that we can find a cure for Ginny."

Basil's laugh was hollow and sad. "You can try if you want. It's a fool's errand. There is no cure for the poison of the Orange Swamp Toad. You have four weeks, and then your precious ginger dies." Basil stepped around Hermione, and stumbled out of the room. Nobody stopped her.

* * *

The group still felt numb when they walked up to Madame Pomfrey's hospital shack, the moon high in the sky. When they opened the door, Fred and George stood up, grinning at them. "So, how'd it go? Did Draco shit his pants when he saw the Dementors?"

"Did you find where Voldemort kept his base? Did you find out the cure for the poison?" Dumbledore added.

The four sat down in some chairs by the side of one of the bed. Hermione looked at Dumbledore. "We found where Voldemort was hiding, but it doesn't matter. He moved his base, because he thought that Basil had led us there. And the poison is from the Orange Swamp Toad... and as far as Basil knew, there is no cure."

Fred and George sat back down, and everybody was silent.

* * *

**A/N: And so my favourite arc (so far planned) in this story is over :( I really liked this arc, and Basil, because of how much goes on, also the blood and violence in it was fun to write. What did you guys think of it? Also, what did you all think of my description of Voldemort? Do you think he made a good first impression on you?**

**There's still plenty more stuff to happen in the story before we could even call it half-way, and you guys really should stick around for next week: I'm not giving any spoilers, but I will tell you this- Blaise makes a re-appearance.**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**

**PS: Also, thank you to the person that viewed Chapter 15 like, seconds after it came out! Whoever you are, you made my day!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- In which people learn both good news and bad news

"I have good news for you, and bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?" Poppy asked the group. After learning the source of the poison, she'd immediately looked it up in her guide to poisons (a book first begun by her great-grandfather, Herb).

Ginny looked at her blankly. "Does it matter?"

Poppy smiled sympathetically. "The bad news is that there is no known cure for the poison of the Orange Swamp Toad, and Basil Izk wasn't lying when she said that Ginny only has three-to-four weeks to live."

"God," Fred moaned, rubbing his chin. "How do we tell Mum?"

"We aren't going to tell her anything." Ginny said bluntly. "She'll only worry."

"Oh, yeah, Gin, great idea," George replied sarcastically. "We'll just pretend everything's fine, wait until you drop down dead to tell her the truth."

"It's not going to be like that." Ginny snapped. "Poppy, you said there was good news as well, yeah? We'll find out what that is before we bother Mum about this."

Poppy paused slightly, to see if any of Ginny's (currently present) brothers had any objections. When they didn't, she continued. "The good news is that I know somebody who has been researching the cure of the Orange Swamp Toad for several months. He has to be near to finding it out by now."

Ginny sat up a little straighter. "Who is it?"

"A friend of yours, Neville Longbottom." Poppy replied. The entire room brightened.

"Neville!" Harry exclaimed, smiling. "He'll know the cure by now for sure!"

"Who's Neville?" Draco asked, but everybody ignored him.

"So we'll go ask Neville if he's found out the cure, then!" Hermione decided. "And if he hasn't, he can't be far off. We'll help him figure out the final details! Poppy, please, do you know where he is?"

"Well, I don't know for certain, but he did tell me he'd be going to Obscurus when he stopped by a couple of weeks ago. You could start checking there- and if he hasn't been there yet, you could wait for him!" Poppy said.

"Okay!" Ron grinned. "So all we need to do is go to Diagon Island, find Neville, and then Ginny will be saved!"

"All without Mum ever finding out." Ginny added. She was a lot less tense now that she knew there was a chance she could live.

"I don't think I could agree with you leaving the island without telling your mother where you are going in your condition, Ginevra..." Dumbledore began, and everybody protested, Ginny the most loud- "I can't just sit here doing nothing while everybody's trying to save me like I'm some damsel in distress who can't do anything for herself!"- but when Dumbledore held up his hand, everybody quietened. He smiled, his eyes glinting mischievously. "… So I will tell your Mother you're going to collect the cure- she doesn't need to know that we don't know what it is, yet- and if you hurry, you'll have cast off before she reaches the docks."

"Thanks Dumbledore!" Ginny laughed, hugging him. "You're the best."

"Honestly, Albus..." McGonagall sighed, shaking her head with a smile. She looked sternly at Hermione. "I hope you find the cure in time, Miss Granger."

"Me too, McGonagall." Hermione said. She frowned. "Ah, Draco, I need a word with you outside. Gin, I'll call for you when I'm ready to get ready to go."

"Sure thing, Hermione."

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I have a favour to ask of you, actually..." Dumbledore began as Hermione and Draco exited the modified-barn, immediately getting bathed in the warm glow of the rising sun. Looking at the soft yellow sky, Draco couldn't help but feel hopeful. Hermione didn't look so good.

"Um... what's up?" Draco asked awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Draco... Mr. Malfoy... I..." Hermione seemed to be struggling for words, which was something Draco hadn't really seen until this point. "Surely you've realized, after what's happened in the last couple of weeks, that this is... it's dangerous. People get shot, stabbed- sorry for cutting you, by the way, how does it feel?- murdered, poisoned... You could die at any moment. Doesn't that frighten you?"

"It's not too bad." Draco said, rubbing the bandages wrapped around his forearm. "And, well, everybody's afraid of dying..."

"When Basil Izk was chasing you and trying to kill you, and I wasn't there to help... I felt like it was my fault. That I should have given you money to find a ride home the minute we first arrived in Curase. If you had died..." Hermione looked out towards the sea, and shook her head. "The point is, I don't think that you should come with us to Diagon Island."

"What?"

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out five gold coins. She gave them to Draco. "Here, this should be enough for you to hitch a ride home. Whoever takes you on board might make you work for it, but it'd be safer than... this." She gestured to the building behind them. "A merchant ship just arrived today, see them?" She pointed to a decent sized ship, that only had one mast and shabby, patched up sails. "Talk to them, see how far they can take you. I'm sure if you offer them the money they can take you home, and then it'll be like none of this ever happened, and you can go back to your life, and..."

Draco had been silent ever since Hermione had given him the money. Suddenly he interrupted her. "Granger, I really appreciate the offer, but... I can't accept this."

"What? Draco, don't be an idiot." Hermione disagreed. "What if we get attacked? What if we come across Voldemort, or somebody else just as ruthless as Basil Izk? You could die!"

"So could you."

"But I have a lesser chance of dying, since I can actually defend myself!"

"Then teach me how to!" Draco argued. "... Defend myself, that is. Listen, it's really sweet that you're worried about me-"

"I'm not worried about you, I just feel responsible for you since I'm the one that forced you into this position-"

"If anybody forced me into this position, it's Bruce, for leaving me trapped on a burning ship! You had nothing to do with it! You just heard a call for help and came to the rescue! You... saved my life." Draco blinked at the realisation. He hadn't really thought of it that way before.

Hermione's face softned. "… And I'm trying to save it again."

"But I'm not in danger right now-"

"Not right now, but soon, maybe. Anything could happen!"

"Well, of course anything could happen! But my father's always said that Malfoy's don't accept charity."

"Oh, so this is a pride thing, is it?" Hermione snapped, throwing her hands into the air. "You're going to get yourself killed, all for the sake of pride!"

"Malfoy's make their money through hard work and dedication. It's how my grandfather made his money, it's how my father became successful-"

"And you're an heir to all that. You've never done hard work in your life!"

"I've been doing hard work since I first boarded the Endeavour!"

Hermione laughed loudly and bitterly. "Swabbing a deck and learning how to tie ropes is not hard work!"

"I-Well... It is for me!" Draco spluttered. "And I am finding the whole situation to be very trying!"

"I'm giving you a ticket out of it!"

"But I don't want a ticket out of this!" Draco pulled at his hair in frustration. "Don't you get it? I haven't lifted a finger in all my life! Now, I am! And I don't think it's all that great, but isn't that what my father kicked me out of the house for? To grow a backbone?!" He realised he was shouting. He lowered his voice. "My point is, I appreciate you trying to help me get home, but if you'd really like to help me, I have another plan in mind." Hermione looked like she was going to protest, but she kept her mouth in a tight, firm line.

Draco took a deep breath, before he began to explain. "I would like to become an member of your crew- not a pirate, or anything, just a temporary position swabbing the deck and doing the kind of shit Creevery was doing on the Endeavour. And then I'll get a wage for it, right?" Hermione nodded her confirmation, beginning to see where Draco was going with this. "And that way, I'll be making the money myself, making my own way home. Also, I'd get to find out whether Weasley dies or not- not that I'm worried about her!" Draco backtracked, his eyes widening. "I- I just, if I went home now, and didn't find out, I'd spend my whole life wondering 'what ever happened to that ginger girl?', you know? And I'd probably waste my life just thinking that, so..."

"All right, Draco." Hermione said, chuckling, effectively cutting off his blabber. "I'll hire you as a cabin boy for a couple of months so that you can earn enough money to pay your way home." He grinned, and she held up her hand. "But, I'm buying you a sword, and a dagger, and a gun, and I am going to teach you how to use them. I'm not having you running around like a headless chicken during a battle like last time." She grinned to show that she was joking, and then raised her voice a couple of octaves. "'Help! Help! Granger, help, she's after me! She's going to kiiillll meeeeeeee!'"

"I don't sound like that!" Draco protested, though he was smiling too. "Okay, okay- stop! You can teach me all that stuff, but if you're buying me one I want it to come out of my wages!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Wow, you're serious about this, aren't you."

"You bet!" Draco said, grinning smugly. "I'm going to earn a shit ton of money as a cabin boy, and then I'm going to go home with the money I don't give to the lucky crew that take me back to Wickwitt, and I'll show up at the door to the Manor with all my gold and everybody will be so shocked and impressed... it's gonna be great!"

"I bet." Hermione said. "Now let's get back to Ginny."

"No, you don't even understand how great it's going to be! Father will be stunned, he'll have no idea how I got all of this gold, and he'll finally be proud of me! He'll be like 'Well done, son.' and I'll be like, 'Hah, maybe I don't even need the Malfoy fortune anymore, maybe I'll change my name to Spungen and start up my own rival business' and then he'll be groveling at my feet all like 'No, Draco, don't do that, you're such a good businessman, I've actually loved you all along'. And Blaise has probably been so bored without me there to brighten his life. He's probably just sat around in my room all mopey and depressed, eating all the chocolate I hid in my bedside cabinet. But when I get home, he'll try to act all cool like 'Wow Draco you're back early I didn't even notice you were gone', but _I'll_ know… and Mother! Mother will be so glad to know that I'm safe, she'll probably throw herself at me and start trying to kiss me and she'll be all like 'Oh Draco my dearest are you okay what happened to you did those meanie pirates hurt you' and I'll be like 'No, mother, I'm fine. I don't even get a sunburn anymore, and I can swim now!'-"

"Wait a minute..." Hermione cut him off, looking at him in disbelief. "Are you telling me you boarded a ship, and you can't swim?!" Draco nodded. "Oh my God. Before the sword and everything, you are learning to swim. God, I can't believe you can't swim, we need to rectify this, how have you survived this long!"

* * *

Blaise felt rather bored. Now that Draco was gone, and had been gone, for quite a few months now, Blaise's job was on suspension. He still received wages (though his pay had been cut), and` he still had his job, but it was rather boring without Draco there. That made sense, of course, since Draco was his job. Without Draco there, Blaise's only duty was keeping Draco's room spotless, which was a simple job when Draco wasn't there to mess it up. All Blaise really had to do was dust. Sometimes he jumped on Draco's bed, and threw all of Draco's clothes onto the floor, just so that he had something to do. Most of the time, he just walked around the manor, not doing anything in particular and avoiding Lucius Malfoy like the plague.

One day, about five weeks after Draco's departure on the Endeavour, Blaise was helping his sister, Rosa, to polish the brass in the Entrance Hall, when there was a knock at the door- a heavy thud that sounded three times. Blaise and his sister looked at each other- they weren't meant to open the front door, only the butlers (there were currently three employed at Malfoy Manor) were allowed to, as they were more 'presentable'. Since there didn't seem to be any butlers near, did they have to...?

Luckily, a butler appeared around a minute after the last knock. The third, and youngest butler- a gangly ginger, who was in his mid-twenties- skidded around the corner of the hall and practically sprinted to reach the door. When he arrived at his destination, he paused before opening the door, to brush his clothes down and push his hair back. Rosa rolled her eyes at his behaviour, but both she and her brother looked away when the door opened- just in case it was the Notts, or the Parkinsons, or another rich family that lived on Wickwitt; none of them enjoyed sharing eye contact with somebody 'as lowly as a servant'.

"Hello." The butler said, dragging out the greeting. Blaise risked a peek over to the door, sure that the guy wouldn't be so slow if it was somebody with money and status.

The three people who stood in the threshold looked like they would never own either. Their skin was grubby and sunburnt, and their hair hadn't been washed in weeks. Their clothes were torn and tattered and singed black at the edges. They looked nervous, not to mention suspicious.

"We have news for Lucius Malfoy." The one in the middle, a tall man with a wide nose and disheveled blond hair half pulled back in a ponytail. Blaise noticed in amusement that he had an eye-patch over his left eye, and wondered how the man had gotten it.

"I'm afraid he's busy currently, sir. If I take your names, and your current address, I can make sure a meeting could be arranged between you." The butler dismissed, with surprising tact.

"Bulllshit." The one stood to the left of the eye-patch man grumbled.

"I don't believe that for a second either. Look, my name is Yaxley. I am- I was- the Captain of one of Malfoy's ships. You're going to let me in, now, or when we leave we won't be coming back, ever." Yaxley threatened, and then added in an undertone: "Don't think I could gather the courage to do it over." Blaise frowned. Yaxley- he vaguely recognised that name.

The butler didn't seem to know what to do. Eventually, he sighed. "I'll lead you to the parlour, and announce your presence to the master." The three followed the butler through the entrance hall and down a corridor to the right. Before he left, the butler called back, "You two! Clean the floor when you're done, will you?"

"That rat!" Rosa fumed, furiously polishing the breastplate of a suit of armor. "He thinks he can order us around; he's not that special. He's a rat, is what he is, kissing the asses and licking the heels of every posh bastard on this island. I'll tell you what he's doing- he reckons if he starts at the bottom and makes the right connections, he'll be living a life of luxury in less than five years! The American Dream!" She laughed dryly. "Well, he's starting several ranks too high to do it properly. He should try doing my job one of these days. All he's going to do is cause trouble... Blaise, what's up?"

Blaise had dropped the cloth he was using and had taken a few steps towards the way the group had left. When his sister called out to him, he turned his head slightly to look at her. "I recognise that man- the one that called himself Yaxley. I know that name, I'm sure of it."

"Well then, you can pull him aside on his way out. Come on, I still have a bunch of stuff you can help me with- even more, thanks to that uptight bastard."

"No... I think I'm going to follow them..." Blaise murmured.

"If you get caught eavesdropping, Malfoy'll fire you on the spot." Rosa warned him.

"Like I have a job at the moment." Blaise laughed sarcastically. He jogged after the group, heading in the direction of Lucius's study, and the parlour.

"You still get paid, don't take that for granted!" Rosa called after him. "Paid more than me and Mum put together, that's for damn sure..."

Blaise didn't hear the rest of his sister's complaining, too focused on hiding behind statues and plants to care. If that git of a butler noticed him, he'd probably turn him over to Lucius, in hopes that he'd get brownie points for it.

Lucius Malfoy's study was on the ground floor of the house- at the end of a corridor to the right of the entrance hall. The corridor had several potted plants that Blaise found easy to hide behind, after a childhood of playing hide-and-seek with Draco. The butler led the trio through the second door on the left, which led to the large, overly-colourful room that was the parlour.

When they entered it, Blaise dashed for a particularly large green and silver china pot that a miniature palm tree extended from. Crouching down onto the floor, he inched himself behind it- the shape of the vase made it easy for a person to hide behind, as long as they kept themselves compact.

As soon as Blaise had gotten into his position, the butler exited the parlour again, and walked down the corridor towards the study. He gave a light, respectful knock- Blaise hadn't realised how a knock could be that respectful until he heard it. Now all he had to do was sit tight and wait until Lucius was in the parlour, or the trio of strangers were in the study, and then he could eavesdrop to his hearts content and find out what was going on. He was home free, as long as he didn't make any loud noises.

"Meeow." Blaise froze. Wincing, he looked beside him, where a fat cat was sat watching him with curious green eyes. His fur was a light orange in colour, with streaks of white, and his ears were folded down. His whiskers twitched.

"Dobby," Blaise hissed, giving the cat a pat on the head (the action kind of contradicted his annoyed tone). "Get out of here, I'm trying to hide."

"Meeow." Dobby purred, moving towards him to rub his body against Blaise's leg.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Buddy. But if you're going to stay, be quiet."

"Meeow?"

Blaise groaned. "Dobby, please!" Then he blinked, getting an idea. He smiled enthusiastically. "Do you want a sock? Is that it? Do you want a sock to play with?" The cat's head tilted, and his eyes looked excited. "Yeah? You want a sock? Okay." Blaise pulled his shoe off, and then tugged the sock off of his foot. He put his shoe back on, and then held the sock up. The cat's eyes followed it. "Do you want the sock? Do you want the sock? Do you promise to behave if I give you the sock?"

"Meeow."

"I'll take that as a yes." Blaise shrugged, and lowered the sock down to the cat's mouth. The cat snatched it from him, and ran down the hall to the feet of a suit of armour, pulling at the sock and tearing holes in it. "There goes another pair of socks." Blaise lamented, but quietened when he saw the butler and Lucius Malfoy exit the study. Blaise's boss looked less than pleased.

"I don't understand what Yaxley is doing back so early, his trip was going to last for at least another three months." Lucius was complaining. He was a flicker of movement from the statue; Dobby's tail was flicking back and forth with contentment. "Where did that stupid cat get that sock? I told Narcissa to stop spoiling it; look how fat it's getting." They arrived at the doors of the parlour. "Weasley, fetch afternoon tea for the four of us, will you? I don't understand why he'd need to bring company." Oh my God, his name was Weasley. Blaise could picture his sister calling him a weasel instead of a rat when she found out.

"Yes, sir." Weasley said meekly. He opened the doors for the man, who strode through the doors in a proud manner. "I'll return shortly."

Nobody in the kitchen was expecting afternoon tea for another hour, so Blaise guessed he had about ten minutes before Weasley returned. Ten minutes of finding out what was going on. The doors shut on the parlour, and Weasley left the corridor. Blaise inched himself from behind the vase, and went up to the doors, leaning against them for a better chance of hearing.

The voices were a bit unclear, but Blaise was able to figure out what they were saying.

"Well, Yaxley? What are you doing back so early?" Lucius sounded bored, and mildly inconvenienced.

"Lucius, I don't know how to put this..." It was Yaxley's voice. He sounded anxious, like he was standing in an active volcano, holding a block of dynamite.

"Spit it out, man!"

"Your son is dead." That deep voice was the one who had spoken in the entrance hall. Blaise paled. _What? Draco is..._

"… What?"

"Ah! Well, what Bruce meant to say was..." Now Yaxley sounded flustered.

"Yaxley, tell me straight: Is my son dead, or isn't he?"

"…. He is. We were attacked by a pirate ship, they set fire to it; only a few of us survived, but... A box fell on him, we couldn't move it..."

"You left him behind."

"No, no, of course not... yes." Yaxley sounded guilty. "It was either risk all of our lives saving his, or leave him." There was a threatening silence. Blaise tensed, but stayed with his ears pressed against the door. Was this really happening? "Lucius, I can't begin to comprehend how you're feeling right now, to have lost a son at such a tender age..."

"Yaxley, shut up." Lucius's voice was deep with anger, like a bear's growl. "I promised Narcissa you could look after him. I said that I would trust you with my life! Obviously, I couldn't trust you with his."

"Um, for what it's worth," the final person in the trio said, his high, slightly annoying voice piercing the dreadful quiet, "I don't think he's dead. When I called for help, I don't think Bruce was the only one who came. I think the pirates came too! It's possible they helped Draco!"

"Colin, shut up, you're making it worse. Why would pirates show mercy?" The deeper voice said.

"But Bruce..."

"Get out." Lucius's voice cut through the argument like a dagger dripping with poison.

"Lucius-"

"Get out!" There was the sound of a table flipping over, and a vase breaking. Heavy stomps were Blaise's only warning, before the doors were flung open and he tumbled onto the parlour's floor. Lucius Malfoy looked down at him, surprise, shock, anger and grief all staining his face. "What-?" Lucius stepped past Blaise, stepping on the boy's fingers deliberately. He glanced back briefly over his shoulder as he walked back towards his office. "Zabini, we no longer require your services here. You are dismissed, and if I see you on my property again, I will have you arrested and hung." Blaise would have opened his mouth to protest, but he still felt paralysed, as though his insides were frozen solid. "I should have sent you with him. It should have been you who died instead."

**A/N: Poor Blaise! I need to stop being so mean to Blaise, it's hurting me emotionally. And, also, now you guys know that Colin is alive- I know a couple of you were worried. You're all caught up with me, I'm in the middle of writing Chapter 18 right now. While I was writing Chapter 18, I figured out the money system of this AU- I can't be bothered to search up how money worked during the time frame, so we get stereotypical gold, silver and bronze coins as the monetary system for the fic. 10 bronzes to a silver, 10 silvers to a gold (simple for my convenience, I'm bad at math), with the average cost for a loaf of bread being about 4-8 bronzes. However, the value of each coin depends on the island its used on, as the local economy is figured out by the Governor of the island (or whoever else is in charge), which is kind of a bad thing but I haven't gotten around to linking that to the plot yet.**

**If you're confused to anything I mentioned in the chapter: Obscurus refers to Obscurus Books, a shop in Diagon Alley (in cannon), and Spungen is a name JK almost gave Draco. If you didn't get another thing, mention it in your review and I'll get back to you!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18\- In which Draco visits Diagon Island

As Hermione and Draco walked back into the hospital shack to collect Ginny, they heard loud voices. Ron and Harry were stood up, complaining loudly to Dumbledore with annoyed expressions on their faces.

"I want to go and help my sister!" Ron snapped. "And make sure she's able to get the antidote!"

"Yeah!" Harry agreed, crossing his arms. "This is important- ah, not that your task isn't important as well... But we're talking about Ginny's life, here!"

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, looking over at Ginny, who rolled her eyes.

"Ron and Harry are pissed, because Dumbledore wants them to go help this island that's being bullied by Voldemort, or something. His forces are taking their food, so Dumbledore wants them to take these people more food, and make a stand against Voldemort." Ginny explained.

"Didn't Voldemort say he was going to lay low for a while?" Draco asked Hermione. "Maybe he won't steal food until he's gotten a new headquarters?"

Hermione shook her head. "He still needs to eat, doesn't he? What do you think he's going to do? Ask Nagini to pop in a grocers for some potatoes?"

Ginny, Fred and George snorted. In a mocking tone, Fred added, "Bellatrix, I fancy a steak and kidney pie tonight, could you go and buy me some eggs for the pastry? Here's a couple of extra silvers, buy yourself a treat." The three of them burst into peals of laughter, and even Hermione smiled.

Draco frowned, vaguely recognising the name Bellatrix from somewhere. He knew he had an aunt called Bella, but he didn't think her full name was Bellatrix... "Who's Bellatrix?"

"Oh, she's one of Voldemort's most loyal followers." Hermione said off-handily. "She's basically like Basil Izk, but a bit more crazy."

"Oh, okay." Draco said, not sure how to process the information. It sounded like he should feel intimidated by the person, but the careless way Hermione had talked about her suggested she wasn't that much of a threat.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, I can understand why you're upset." Dumbledore said calmly. "But I need the two of you to do this for me. Minerva and I have other things we need to do, but these people need food immediately. I'm sure that Miss Weasley will be fine until you are done, and you can always send a message to them using your bird."

"Potter has a bird?" Draco asked Hermione quietly, holding his hand up to his mouth so that only she would hear him.

"Yes, most of the Order do, it helps us to communicate. Harry's parrot is called Hedwig, he probably left her to fly about the island, she's very well trained, and this is the island she grew up on." Hermione explained.

"You don't have a bird." Draco commented.

"I've been telling Hermione we should get a bird since we started captaining Spew!" Ginny called out. "But she reckons it would be a waste of our money."

"I don't think it would be a waste of our money." Hermione scoffed. "I just think it isn't necessary to buy one since everybody else has a bird; they can send us a message if they want to."

"But what if we want to send a message to somebody?" Ginny rebutted.

"Fred and George don't have a bird, they're fine with it."

"Actually, we were thinking of capturing that pink one that likes to sing outside the Inn at like three in the morning. She's hilarious." George cut in.

"We were thinking of calling her Jerome." Fred added.

"Come on, Hermione. Having a parrot would be cool." Ginny begged. "It could be like our mascot, or something."

Hermione sighed. "Okay, we'll see if there are any birds for sale when we go to Diagon Island."

"Yes!" Ginny pumped her fist, and then high-fived her brothers.

While Ginny was celebrating her victory, Harry and Ron sighed in defeat. They knew they couldn't change Dumbledore's mind, or really go against what he wanted. "Alright. We'll load the hold up and head off as soon as possible."

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. I'm sure the residents of Yule Island will be thankful for your help."

"Yeah, yeah." Ron grumbled. He walked over to Ginny. "Gin... Don't die, will you?"

"Yeah, that would put a bit of damper on our family reunions." Fred joked, though it seemed half-hearted.

Ginny rolled her eyes again. "I'm not going to die! Okay, so maybe I do have some poison in me, but I bet Neville's already found the cure."

Dumbledore smiled at Ginny sympathetically. "You are very brave, Miss Weasley." Ginny made a face. "Okay, we should probably hurry now; Molly is probably wondering what's taking so long."

"Okay: Ginny, you and Draco go and make sure that SPEW is ready for cast off. I'll go and find the crew." Hermione ordered. Ginny gave Hermione a mock salute and stood up, briefly clutching her head.

"Woah, stood up a bit quick there." She muttered, then grabbed Draco's arm and tugged him out of the shed. "Come on, Malfoy."

Hermione found it easy to locate the members of her crew- it was still early morning, so most of them were still asleep in the inns and taverns along the sea-front. It helped that Lei had already told everybody that Hermione and the others were back, so everybody had already gotten ready to go. What she found hard was telling them all that Akakios was dead... especially to Steve. He and Aka had been close.

"Miss Hermione, are we ready to go?" Hermione winced at the sound of Steve's voice. He frowned, seeing the negative emotions splayed on her face. "Miss Hermione?"

"Um, we're all set to go, if you want to and help Ginny and Draco with last minute preparations." Hermione said to the rest of the crew, then lowered her voice. "Steve... I need to speak with you... privately."

Steve seemed to guess what had happened from the tone of his voice. He sat down on a chair, and shook his head. "Captain... Don't say..."

"Akakios is dead." Hermione said bluntly, not sure how else she could say it. "He survived the fight against Basil Izk's forces, but I left him alone with one of Harry's men to guard Basil Izk while we went to fetch Dumbledore. She tricked them somehow, outsmarted them... When we got back to the ship, Basil Izk was gone, and Aka and the other guard were dead." Steve's mouth scrunched up. He didn't say anything, though his mouth opened and closed several times. Hermione looked away from him. "I can take you to see his... body." She paused. "If that would help." Steve shook his head again. He pinched his nose with his hand, and swallowed.

"Could... Could I take him back home? To Helen, and the kids?" Steve asked quietly.

"Of course you can." Hermione said. "His body is still in the Chosen Boat's hold." Hermione winced. She should have moved the body. "Take as long as you need."

"T...Thank you, Captain." Steve mumbled. "I'll be back in a... in a month. Tell Draco Dragon goodbye for me?"

"Of course, Steve." Hermione was sure she didn't deserve his thanks. "Stay safe." Steve nodded. The two of them stayed still for a couple more minutes. "See you around, then." Steve nodded. Hermione turned and walked back up the gangplank, groaning in her mind. _That... could have gone better._

"Hermione, everything cool?" Ginny asked. She was pulling at a rope, tightening the sail's position.

"Steve's taking Aka's body back to Helen and the kids." Hermione replied. "He won't be coming back for a while."

"Wait, Aka's dead?" Somebody on board asked in horror. Hermione felt herself shrink.

"Basil Izk killed him last night." Hermione said, her insides churning about as though her organs were butter. Had it really been less than 24 hours? It felt like longer.

"I thought it would be better to come from you, Captain." Lei said, in the form of an apology.

"A lot of bad things have happened recently." Hermione announced to her crew, more confidently than she felt. "Akakios is... dead, and Ginny has been poisoned, and the perpetrator behind both of these attacks got away." She took a deep breath. "But... we can't give up. Neville Longbottom is currently researching an antidote to the poison, and if we find him, we'll be able to save Ginny." Ginny muttered an objection at her phrasing.

"And then we'll go after Basil Izk, right?" Another person asked.

"We won't stand by and let these sort of things happen." Hermione replied. "So... it's off to Diagon Island, where Neville is most likely to be."

"Uh huh, and let's move it- I think that's Mum." Ginny warned, looking past Hermione's head to the path that led away from the dock.

While Hermione barked out orders , Draco helped several other members of the crew. He wasn't sure if his effort amounted to much, but when the task was done, a surly man (whose name was Jerry) gave him a grateful grin, so Draco felt proud either way.

Ginny looked back, and winced with guilt. It was her mother, at the end of the docks, approaching in a frantic run. By the time she reached the end of the dock, the ship was too far away for her to stop it, but the way she called out and cried scratched at Ginny's heart. Part of her wanted to jump off of SPEW to go back to her, and promise her that everything was going to okay. But if she did that... there was no telling if she'd have the antidote on time. She swallowed, and looked away. "I'm sorry, Mum. I'll be back soon."

* * *

The journey from Curase Island to Diagon Island was the shortest journey Draco had ever experienced. He wasn't sure whether it was because of the closeness of the islands, or because he was so busy that he didn't notice the time passing. He'd thought, at first, that Colin's bouncy rhythm on the Endeavour had been because of the kid's over-enthusiastic attitude, but it seemed like the amount of activity was necessary. Ginny had plenty of activities for him to do; even when there wasn't anything he had to do, she found something to keep him occupied.

"Here," she said around an hour into the journey, when she saw he wasn't doing something. "There's something you can do for me." The job she gave him involved rubbing various parts of the ship with glass paper- "Nobody wants a splintery ship, Malfoy!"- but Draco didn't really mind the work. In the scheme of things, glass paper wasn't nearly as dangerous as Basil Izk had been. And it wouldn't be long before he had enough money to go home! He could put up with the work if he'd be back to sleeping on silk sheets within the month.

He didn't have time to do that much work, anyway; the journey was over quickly. Diagon Island was a brilliant sight to behold in the mid-day sun. It shone as though the entire island was made of light. As they got closer, Draco saw that the source was from thousands of glass windows. The island was covered with buildings of all shapes and sizes, each of them grander than the one before them. The dock was large, filled with majestic boats. Some of them were smaller than fishing boats, the largest had three masts, and sails that seemed to glow golden.

"Now this is a merchants island." Draco said with satisfaction. The entire island screamed wealth.

"It looks a lot grander than Knocturn." Hermione admitted with a grin. "Much more eager for customers." She cleared her throat. "Okay, folks, if we're lucky, we'll find Neville today. If we don't... he should be around soon." She dismissed her doubt with a wave of her hand. "And we'll stay here until he comes, or leave first things tomorrow if he's already gone. Of course, we still need to keep the ship at a good standard, so a few of us will have to come back and do work- horrible, I know," she added humorously when a couple of the crew groaned, "but somebody has to do it. Now... I'm going to be staying at the Leaky Canon, so I'm going to need somebody to take care of the ship, so we'll sort that out first... Ginny, Draco, could you go and sort out the fare for docking, please?" Hermione fished out a small bag of coins and dropped it into Ginny's waiting hands. "That should cover it."

"Sure thing, Hermione." Ginny said, hitting Draco lightly over the shoulder to make sure he followed her.

Once the fare was paid, and boat left in the capable hands of Dermid, Hermione, Draco and Ginny headed towards the Leaky Canon.

"I mean," Hermione was saying as they walked across the seafront, "it's likely we're going to find Neville today, so there isn't really much point in staying overnight, but I think after all we've been through, we deserve the comfort of sleeping in a bed."

"Personally, I can't wait!" Draco agreed. "No more rocking about in the hammocks and falling out of them at three in the morning! Will food be included in the price?"

"Breakfast will, but we have to buy our own lunch and dinners." Ginny informed him, as they reached the end of the walkway. The Leaky Canon was a large building at the end of a row of even-larger buildings, all of them made of sandstone, and covered with flower-boxes. The Leaky Canon looked almost exactly alike them, except for the fake canon beside the front door (at least, Draco hoped it was fake), and a broken window to the left of it. Its right side met directly with a steep cliff wall. Ginny hopped up two steps and entered the door, Draco following her through the threshold.

Inside the inn was quiet, due to it being the middle of the day. Most people were out working or buying things, but there were a couple of people at a table in the corner eating lunch. Hermione and Ginny headed straight for the bar, Draco following them like a sheep. As he walked behind them, he tried to feel optimistic, but the appearance of the inside of the inn contrasted greatly to the outside. The stone floor was chipped and uneven, and the threadbare rug in the center of the room was stained in various shades of yellow, and smelt of alcohol and pee. The wooden chairs and tables were splintered, and the door to the toilets was half-off of its hinges. Unlike the Burrow, this inn didn't have heat and laughter to cover up its faults.

"Hello, Tom." Hermione greeted with a cheery smile to the landlord, a hunched-over, bald on man.

"Hello, lass, what can I do you fer?" Tom asked, grinning. Most of his teeth were missing, Draco noticed, apart from one yellow tooth, which had a golden filling. "I've just bought a new batch of whiskey, if you care ter try it?"

"No drink for us yet, Tom." Hermione shook her head. "We're looking for a room, or maybe two if you have them available."

Tom nodded knowingly. "I'm very full right now, lass... I think I might have one room left, in the back..."

"Brilliant!" Ginny chipped in chirpily. "How much?"

"10 gold pieces per night, per person." Tom said, picking up a foggy glass and wiping it with a limp rag.

"10?" Ginny repeated, sounding fustrated. "That's double since last time we were here!"

"Sorry, but them's the breaks." Tom shrugged, looking almost as fustrated as Ginny. "If you can't pay the rate, you'll have to look elsewhere. I need the money, I have to pay for the window, and I don't get many customers these days, since that toll booth opened up by the gate. People would prefer to stay inside the gates, and only pay to enter once."

"I understand, Tom." Hermione said, sighing sadly. "Maybe we could make some sort of deal?"

Tom glanced at her, interested. "What kind'f deal are yer thinking' of?"

"Maybe you could lower the price to, maybe, 7 golden pieces per person-" Tom breathed in sharply- "In exchange for a bit of free labour. We could wash a couple of dishes, wait on tables..."

"An interesting offer." Tom said. "But you underestimate how much I need money. Make it 9, and we have a deal."

"8." Hermione bartered.

"8 gold and 6 silvers."

"8 and 5."

Tom paused, frowning. And then he smiled. "Alright, 8 gold pieces and 5 silvers per person, per night, plus free labour during the evenings. But only 'cause I like yer spunk, Hermione. You'll be running my business before I know what's hit me!" The two of them shook hands to seal the deal, and he handed her an old, large, bronze-plated key, which she placed in her pocket. "It's up the stairs, last door on the left."

Hermione handed him the first night's pay in advance, and told him they'd be back soon. "Can we go around the back, Tom?"

"Don't get caught doin' it, I'll be the one that gets in trouble." Tom said, which Draco guessed meant 'yes'.

"Let's go find Neville before he leaves." Hermione said, inwardly celebrating the deal they'd settled on, even though she'd still lost a lot of money. She led Draco and Ginny to a small, unsuspecting door near the end of the bar.

"You know that walkway we walked past to get to the inn?" Hermione asked Draco, sensing his confusion. "Well, the buildings beside it go from one cliff to another; so the only way into town is through a gate by the docks." She was leading him down a narrow, shadowed passage, Ginny only a couple of meters in front of her. The backs of buildings were on one side, and the tall wall of a cliff was on the other. The trio had to inch side-ways, like a crab, to move forwards. "And that's okay, it's a good defense against attackers, but recently Governor Crouch decided to put a toll to pass through there."

"It's stupid!" Ginny exclaimed angrily. "They already make us pay to dock our ships, and this island is full of shops that pay rent! Why does he need to drag even more money out of people?!"

"I think it's something to do with him wanting to spruce up the place?" Hermione said. "I'm not sure, I don't want to mindlessly accept gossip, but you've seen how different Diagon is becoming over the last year, Gin. I reckon he's trying to make the island look more affluent... and that costs money."

"Like he doesn't have money already." Ginny grumbled.

"It's exploitation, that's what it is... but, there isn't much we can do about it." Hermione admitted, though Draco swore she'd muttered 'at the moment' under her breath.

"Okay, here we are." Ginny said, and Draco leant forward slightly to see past Hermione. The cliff curved inwards, meeting the side of a building which ran into it. Just before the smooth, pale yellow wall ended, there was a white door. Ginny knocked on it five times, knocking on a different knot in the wood each time.

Draco waited awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other, while whoever lived in the building came to the door. After about five minutes, the door opened slightly, and a face looked through the crack warily. His face was round, his hair sat on top of it like a disheveled brown mouse, and there were wrinkles around his bushy eyebrows. There was stubble on his jaw, and a fat mustache hovering just above his lips. "Five silver pieces for entry."

"Don't be a dick." Ginny said, and Draco winced. But the man just laughed, and opened the door wider. He stepped backwards, letting the trio walk through.

"You're just as feisty as ever, Ginny." The man said. "And how are you, Hermione?"

"Tired." Hermione replied, and Draco was hit by the sudden exhaustion you feel when you realise you haven't slept in the past two days.

"And who's this with you?"

"Uh, I'm Draco." Draco introduced himself, before Hermione could cut in. "I'm their new cabin boy."

"Fair enough." The man dismissed, shutting the door behind Draco and leading them through a brightly coloured hallway, with several badly painted portraits lining the walls. "I tell you, I've been so busy today, I could barely hear you knocking from out front. It's good, because I'm making so much money, so much money, you have no idea- but I swear all the racket is giving me a headache! We're going to run out of ice-cream at this rate!"

The four of them exited into a small storefront, behind a counter filled with tubs of ice-cream. The entire room was crammed people, all trying to push their way to the front. A woman, who stood beside a bronze cash register, looked at them. "About time you came back, we're drowning in orders; you're going to need to fetch more from the back."

"Ah, so busy, busy, busy." The man shook his head. "Well, have fun shopping, Hermione, buy some ice cream before you go... or on your way back." He amended, looking at the depleting pile of tubs.

"Thank you Mr. Fortescue." Hermione grinned, and she pulled Draco through the crowd, and out into the street.

The streetway was darker and cooler than what Draco had expected. The space between the shops was wide, and the pavement cobbled. Blankets hung from window to window, keeping the space shadowy- a nice difference from the heat that was outside the town. The paint on some of the buildings was starting to peel off, and Draco understood why the Governor would want to modify the town- nobody would want to buy anything from a shop looking like an abandoned hovel.

"Come on, Draco, it's this way." Hermione said, and Draco followed her past different shops, some of them bright and nice, like Florean Fortescue's Icecream Parlour had been, and some of them less happy, like the dark entrance to a shop simply labelled 'Fish' (Draco guessed it was a sign to explain the stink about the shop, instead of advertising what they actually sold).

They eventually reached a small shop, a sign swinging overhead reading 'Obscurus Books' in a fancy script Draco almost recognised. He couldn't see through the windows of the shop, both sides being full to the brim with books. Some of the spines faced the window, though mostly all Draco could see where pages. When the door opened, the bell above the door tinkled quietly, and a small man with large, circular glasses, looked up from a large book he was reading.

"Hello, Hermione. Back again I see." The man said. "I know I told you that you could take your time with 'Sailing Through The Ages' , but I am going to need it back at some point."

"Oh! Of course." Hermione nodded, coughing slightly. "I'll bring it back soon, I promise, Erasmus."

"That's what you said the last time."

"We're actually here, because we're looking for somebody." Ginny cut in, slightly impatiently. "Have you seen Neville recently?"

The man looked slightly shocked. "No, not since about three months ago, and you were with him then. Why, has something happened?"

"No, he's just doing something for Poppy Pomfrey, that's all." Ginny replied quickly. "She asked us to find him."

"Ginny..." Hermione began, frowning slightly.

"No, it's alright." Ginny said. "If he hasn't been here yet, that means that he'll be coming soon. And we'll talk to him then. And in the meantime, we can just hang about. Do some shopping, drink some beer, eat some icecream. He won't be too long." She flashed Hermione a bright smile. "Now come on, let's go to Ollivander's. You said we needed to buy Malfoy a sword, didn't you? And you promised me a bird!"

**A/N: Not my best chapter, I know, but after all of that plot heavy action, I'm finding it kind of hard to slip back into the smaller side-plot points like this. Personally, I feel like this chapter was too descriptive, but how do you guys feel about it? Please tell me in reviews! I love you guys and I want to know what you think! (Also, there are like 3 references in here to things I loved when I was younger, if people get them I'm going to freak!)**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	19. NOT Chapter 19- An Update

Hi guys, sorry, this isn't a new chapter, it's just a little thing (probably a bit late considering it's two weeks) to say i'm kind of in a bad spot rn, and i've lost my muse somewhat. It's still there (I think) just being incredibly hard to access. So I'll be taking a short break for a while. Sorry

~Comix


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